Rocket League Esports has announced the return of Collegiate Rocket League (CRL) for the Fall 2024 semester after an unexplained absence this past Spring. With this announcement comes a new format that looks to breathe new life into the competition.
This Fall, a prize pot of $50,000 will be at stake for collegiate teams competing across North America.
How the Format is Changing
The old system for Collegiate Rocket League featured teams competing in tournaments to qualify for either Eastern or Western Division Play. Those two conferences functioned like most leagues: with weekly play culminating to a national championship.
CRL has decided to shift from a traditional league format to solely focusing on those qualifier tournaments. The new format will feature four open tournaments for all collegiate teams across North America.
Below are the dates for each tournament:
- October 5-6: Fall Open 1
- October 12-13: Fall Open 2
- October 19-20: Fall Open 3
- November 2-3: Fall Open 4
- November 16-17: Fall Championship
The top performing teams in each tournament will earn CRL points. After all four open tournaments, the eight teams with the most CRL points will qualify for the Fall Championship.
Each tournament will take place over two days. The first will see teams divided into four pools with each consisting of a double elimination bracket. The top two teams from each pool will advance to Day Two.
The final day of play will feature the remaining eight teams competing in another double elimination bracket. While the CRL points distribution has not been revealed yet, there is no indication that winning any of the Fall Opens guarantees a spot in the Fall Championship.
While this is a big change to the format, it does ensure that far more teams will be able to compete in each event.
Top Collegiate Teams Gunning For Glory
With nearly all of the top collegiate Rocket League teams competing, there are many contenders with a good shot at winning the whole thing.
With the HUE 2024 Invitational now in the books, Concord University emerged as the program to beat. After a wild reverse sweep of Illinois State University in the Semifinals, they beat West Virginia University 4-0 in Grand Finals.
Despite losing in the Semifinals of that same event, Maryville University won the group stage on goal differential. An elite program in nearly all titles, Maryville always has more room in the trophy cabinet, and the talent to get it done.
Northwood University didn’t attend the most recent HUE Invitational. They did, however, win the Collegiate Carball Association 2024 Summer Series. Conquering Grand Finals over Maryville, even though the two teams played a much closer Winner Finals set, is sure to give Northwood a confidence boost going into the newest season of CRL.
Getting Your Team Ready to Compete
For those teams that already have their rosters ready to go, signups for all four Fall Opens are available now on the CRL start.gg page. In order to register, though, all three players on each team need to sign up together.
Signups for each tournament will end the Monday before competition. That means the first Fall Open on October 5th will close registrations on Monday, September 30th.
Teams having issues with registration are encouraged to ask for support in the CRL Discord Server.
Those schools with dedicated broadcasts will need to apply for a broadcast exemption in order to spotlight their teams’ games. Schools can apply for the CRL’s School Broadcast Program through the CRL Discord Server.
Despite the announcement being made only ten days ago, a whopping 512 teams have registered across all four Fall Opens. Keep in mind that one team signing up for all four events is listed as four teams. 151 teams are currently registered for the Fall Open 1.
With so many schools registering, this is bound to be a high-octane season of Collegiate Rocket League. Without the comfort of having already qualified for the main league, all teams will need to play their best knowing that just one loss will put them in a daunting losers bracket.
On the heels of an exciting CCA Summer Series 2024, Psyonix are gearing up for a brand-new look to Collegiate Rocket League. Those interested in watching the action unfold live can tune in on the official Rocket League Twitch and YouTube channels.
