The Collegiate Rocket League, or “CRL,” scene has publisher support once again. During the Rocket League Championship Series World Championship, CRL Fall 2025 had its format officially announced on broadcast, thus beginning the third semester of “new-era” CRL since the competition’s Spring 2024 hiatus.
The New CRL Format
Rocket League’s flagship collegiate competition will feature $60,000 in prizing across two months of Fall competition. This is distributed largely in the “Fall Championship” event, as the final four teams standing following a cut-throat qualification process will each earn a share of $20,000 in scholastic awards.
In the most competitive semester of CRL ever, however, qualifying to the Collegiate Rocket League Fall 2025 Championship will be no easy feat.
In the 2024-2025 school year, the path to CRL championships was simpler. Schools sent their teams to scrap through four massive, double elimination qualifier brackets to tally as many CRL qualification points as possible before the top 8 teams were seeded into a single elimination Championship bracket to find that semester’s CRL Champion.
This was how Concord University (Fall 2024) and St. Clair College (Spring 2025) were deemed CRL champions and earned the championship rings to prove it.
This semester, however, the path to a Collegiate Rocket League championship is paved with the past in mind. Following a familiar double elimination qualification bracket on September 28th, the 8 teams skilled enough to escape from the CRL qualification gauntlet will find themselves pitted against one another in an 8-team “League Play” group.
This format, though essentially a Round Robin tournament, is a nod to CRL’s previous format of 16 team regional “Leagues” acting as championship qualifiers. In the present day, this “League Play” will include 8 teams playing two “Splits” running from October 5th to October 26th and November 2nd to November 16th, respectively. Each split features streamed matches on Sundays at 1:00 p.m. ET.
Meanwhile, during that first split of League Play, the countless trios of teams having missed their first opportunity at League Play will get a second chance by way of three “Open 3v3 Tournaments” distributing qualification points to the top 24 per Open. These Opens are held on the Wednesdays of October 8, 15, and 22.
The four best teams from Split 1 will retain their spots in League Play while the bottom four must enter a “Closed Qualifier” alongside the eight best Open 3v3 Tournament teams in pursuit of one of four League Play Split 2 positions available. This event is a double elimination bracket played out on November 1st, the day before Split 2 of League Play begins.
CRL has also officially announced a pair of Open 2v2 Tournaments taking place during League Play Split 2 and open to all schools.
Notable New Rosters with RLCS Talent
While community consensus appears to be that this new CRL format is a step above the much simpler double elimination qualifiers of last school year, only a maximum of 16 teams will get a taste of League Play or the Closed Qualifier. This is a much lower number of teams touching the apex of collegiate Rocket League when compared to the 32 team League Plays of the past.
This critique of the new CRL format is emphasized by a stark infusion of talent joining the ranks of top CRL rosters.
Notably, Winthrop University, Baylor University, Fisher College, George Mason University, St. Edward’s University, West Virginia University, and Kennesaw State have all added players of pro-circuit fame to their lineups.
Following several years of success in other esports, Winthrop University has made a big splash into the CRL scene by signing GarrettG, an RLCS World Championship player that spent most of his playing career with NRG. He joins 2021 CRL National Championship winning player, Tcorrell, who has competed at Northwood University and Harrisburg University. The roster is completed by Percy, a perennial RLCS Open Era (2020-present) journeyman that has reached a peak of placing top four in regional events.
Baylor University has had a similar recruiting season in landing Andy and Hockser. Both have professional careers spanning over 7 years and appearances at RLCS Major LAN events. However, this is just the first semester of competition for Baylor as an official Varsity program. Their third is a Baylor student turned collegiate Rocket League athlete named JT.
St. Edward’s University and Kennesaw State University have both followed the blueprint of recruiting RLCS LAN champions in an attempt to elevate their standing in the CRL scene from steady Top 25 rosters to ones that can contend for championships.
RLCS Season 1 World Champion, Kronovi, returns to Kennesaw State after a hiatus caused by a professional Rocket League playing career to compete alongside a Flitz and TNT duo that won the DreamHack Atlanta Collegiate Invitational LAN this past year.
St. Edward’s have also found themselves an RLCS LAN champion in Noly, who turns to CRL after a lengthy professional career and will compete with a seasoned Hilltopper in Wellace and Tater, a Davenport University transfer that has indicated that his position as this lineup’s third is only temporary while recruiting for the Spring semester is underway.
Back on the ever-stacked east coast, George Mason University has revamped their roster with a massive recruitment season. Kraziks, Proto, and former Fisher College student, Kinseh, will join RLCS coach and former player, Memory, on the new-look GMU A-team. West Virginia University returns a familiar Top 10 CRL lineup of Tool, Matter (formerly known as Daunt), and Gyro, but with Gyro officially joining the starting three on a regular basis.
Rounding out contending rosters featuring players of RLCS fame is Fisher College, the lone top school to land a recruit from South American RLCS. Royales had his pick of which top schools to bring his elite mechanical skill to for CRL and landed in Boston with Fisher. He will join current Fisher College players, Ahduhm and Falss, for the upcoming Fall semester.
These schools gain players with professional experience under their belts, but will still need to fend off a number of skilled teams aiming for League Play spots.
New Rosters Building Upwards
Though there are a number of schools that will gain fans from their new pro-circuit stars, CRL will still feature a number of fresh rosters in contention for those coveted League Play spots.
Out (mid)west, Wichita State University have recruited their way into contender conversations as the Kansas native and former Maryville star, Night, transferred back to his home state following a second place finish in CRL this past spring. Wichita talents in Boone and Masuhn get a big shot to prove themselves at the top of CRL this season as they round out the Shockers’ starting lineup.
Michigan State University have also strengthened an already talented lineup with a high-profile transfer. Formerly at St. Edward’s University, Druee has made the decision to bring his veteran experience up north to join former freshmen phenoms entering their sophomore seasons, Opp Bomb and Morveu.
Not all CRL transfers are American, however. East Tennessee State University now wields a French duo that have already gained experience in the collegiate ecosystem. Kisai and Forece have both transferred in to ETSU from Lawrence Technological University and Fisher College, respectively. Forece boasts a recent, Top 8 finish in CRL Spring 2025. Individually strong player, Landen, rounds out the roster in his final semester at ETSU.
The Indiana Institute of Technology, or Indiana Tech, have also followed the blueprint of last year’s European invasion of CRL. They have supported their star player, Bluey, with a pair of European RLCS standouts in Velocity and Reshiram. The pair of skilled Europeans have both logged Top 16 results in the professional Rocket League ecosystem.
Other notable changes for rosters looking to make steps towards securing a League Play position include:
Brewton-Parker Christian University bumping their top Academy player, Mylk, into their starting lineup with MannyLR and last Spring’s Dutch transfer, Cass. It is worth noting that this is the same school as Brewton-Parker College. BPCU received its University status this past summer.
Columbia College and their addition of Ryolite, whose individual ability brought Radford University to new heights last Spring before he transferred over the summer to join a very experienced CRL duo of Gske and Excelst.
Syracuse University supporting their all-star, Gababy, with two freshmen he had a large role in recruiting. Tiz and LessuR join a Syracuse roster with high hopes this Fall.
Top Returning Rosters
With all of the talk of transfers, RLCS stars joining CRL, and more imported players to the scene, seven of last Spring’s CRL top 10 have kept their same rosters heading into the Fall.
Both champions of the 2024-2025 CRL school year are returning their trophy-hoisting trios, as Concord University (Fall 2024 Champions) kept their EU duo of Simas and Crispy playing with home-grown star, Helix, while St. Clair College (Spring 2025 Champions) have maintained their fully European squad of Arju, Pzy, and Jazii.
Runners-up of the Collegiate Esports Commissioner’s Cup LAN this past May, the University of Akron, have also kept their CRL celebrities of Patty and Bullzzeye competing alongside RLCS standout, Fiv3Up. The Akron B-team, known as Akron Gold, is also in contention for a spot in League Play as Milio, Yawnathon, and Oxy continue to impress as the best secondary roster out of any school in the collegiate Rocket League space.
The Phoenix of Cumberland University flew to new heights in the Spring when they brought in Polar, KnightYuh, and Nex. They return the same team that saw them place in the top 8 of CRL’s Spring 2025 season and, more recently, upset the top-ranked St. Clair Saints in NACE Conference play.
In a similar 5th-8th place position, Ball State University sees all three starters that competed in the CRL Spring 2025 Championship (Guh, Wovah, and Oath) aim for another run this fall.
Schools that just missed the cut of the top 8 in CRL’s previous season, but are returning the same starting lineup for at least another semester of play include:
A roster with a legacy of winning within the CRL space with Boise State University. In fact, Durtho, PRSTN, and Wuzy are fresh off a LAN victory in Syracuse, New York at the Power Esports Conference Kickoff LAN featuring Syracuse, Michigan State, and Nebraska.
Oklahoma Christian University’s trio of Chilli, MxNorth, and Gman, who are always a consistent threat to top squads but found themselves with up-and-down results this past Spring.
The University of Mississippi, who were rumored to be landing S5-Cosmic, a high-profile transfer from Illinois State University, but saw things fall through until the upcoming Spring semester. They return Lunar, Stealth, and Cmoney to their starting lineup.
Davenport University, which is a roster looking to break into League Play following a 12th place finish in CRL Spring 2025. Broc, Cam, and Bolti set high expectations for themselves and look to achieve those in the new League Play format of Collegiate Rocket League Fall 2025.
Notable Fall Absence
Notably competitive and a former candidate for a League Play spot, Maryville University will no longer be competing in the Fall season of CRL. Sources close to the team have confirmed that Eekso will be leaving the team effective immediately to pursue a professional coaching career with Geekay Esports.
This has left the remaining two members of the roster, Speed and RelatingWave, to forfeit their NACE and CRL seasons.
CRL Information
The Collegiate Rocket League Fall 2025 season officially begins on September 28th at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT with the first Open Qualifier for League Play Split 1.
While registration for the Open Qualifier has officially closed, you can visit all tournament pages here.
