209 total teams competed in the Spring 2026 Collegiate Rocket League (CRL) open qualifier 1 and only 8 punched their tickets to compete in league play (so far):
- Maryville University
- Fisher College
- Winthrop University
- St. Clair College
- Northwood University
- West Virginia University
- Cumberland University
- Concord University
For those versed in the CRL space, it’s no surprise that these eight teams passed the test – with an influx of professional-level talent joining the collegiate scene over the last year. For example: West Virginia landed 1v1 pro S5-Cosmic; Royales on Fisher; GarrettG and tcorrell on Winthrop (just to name a few).
If you’re looking for more in-depth conversation around CRL rosters, Bepic and DJTJ break down the winter’s roster moves in the Collegiate Exclusive Podcast.
Still missing qualified teams from the Fall 2025 CRL season: Oklahoma Christian University, Baylor University, and Ball State University (Closed Qualifier for Split 2).
Dates didn’t line up
As mentioned in “Rocket League Esports Announces Spring CRL Expansion”, the publisher-backed tournament faced criticism for a short turnaround time between the registration announcement and the first qualifier, as well as for overlapping dates.
The qualifier overlapped with the Hawai’i Esports Invitational, meaning the competing teams had to do so with less than ideal ping.
Despite taking home the championship (and a surf board) at the Hawai’i Esports Invitational, Baylor was unable to get it done in the qualifier, falling to Cumberland and Wichita State in the upper and lower brackets respectively.
8 more league play spots remain for teams who were unable to qualify this time around in the open qualifier 2 hosted on February 28. And for teams that still don’t clinch their spot through qualifier 2, there will be 3 Open 3v3 tournaments to earn scholastic awards, CRL points, and a spot in the CRL Last Chance Qualifier.
How to watch & key dates
The Collegiate Rocket League Spring split is close to kick-off, mark your calendars for these important dates:
- Open Qualifier 2: February 28
- League play kicks off: March 8
- Open 3v3 Tournaments:
- March 12
- March 19
- March 26
- Last Chance Qualifier: April 26
- Spring Championship: May 2-3
No information on official broadcasts has been shared yet. However, many teams may stream their matches to their school’s official esports Twitch page.
