The invite-only tournament will begin Tuesday, Aug. 16, and features 40 two-year and four-year institutions that will compete for eight berths in a two-day finals event. 

The Buccaneers join Bryant & Stratton College Virginia Beach as the only two-year schools competing in the tournament.  

The Blinn Overwatch team is headed by assistant coach Kyle Murto, who helped guide the Buccaneers to second place in the NJCAAE National Championship tournament during the spring semester. Blinn was also selected by the NJCAA to participate in the 2022 Collegiate Esports Commissioner’s Cup (CECC) in May in Atlanta, Ga., where the Bucs competed against two- and four-year programs. 

Murto said that being selected is an honor for a Buccaneer program entering just its fourth season. 

“Just to be invited and considered one of the best teams in the nation, especially as a two-year program, is an incredible feeling,” Murto said. “I feel really good about it. I think we have a very strong lineup with a good amount of last year’s roster returning who are mixed in with some phenomenal new recruits.” 

The 40 teams competing in the tournament have been separated into eight groups of four or five teams. Teams in each group will have two weeks to play each of their opponents in their group twice in a best-of-three match starting Tuesday, Aug. 16. Following the opening round of competition, the top team from each group will move on to a two-day championship event hosted at Harrisburg University (Harrisburg, Pa.) starting Saturday, Sept. 24 and ending Sunday, Sept. 25. 

The finals will be streamed live on the Harrisburg University Twitch channel on Sept. 25. 

Blinn will compete against Illinois State University, Ohio State University, Siena Heights University, and Suny University at Buffalo in Group 3. 

“I feel like we will have a good shot at possibly making it to the top eight teams and competing in person at Harrisburg University,” Murto added. “This is going to be our first big test of the year and we’ll see how much we have improved from the CECC in May. We are excited and honored to be a part of this and we are going to go out and show that we deserve to be there.” 

Blinn sophomore William Bowman said the invitation to the HUEI demonstrates the growth of the Blinn esports program. 

“I think being invited to HUEI is an amazing honor for the players and the program as a whole, and I think it speaks volumes about all the work our program put in last year,” Bowman said. “Competing against some of the best schools in the nation is a huge deal as it allows us to test our mettle against the best of the best. Our players have been working hard over the summer to prove ourselves and this is the best chance we have to do so.” 

Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 42 NJCAA national championships since 1987.