VALORANT — Looking Forward to the Spring 2023 NACE Open Premiere
The next season of the Open Premiere for NACE season will kick off on September 11, with the post-season extending into late November. If you are unaware, the open bracket allows for new or upcoming college teams to prove themselves before joining the varsity bracket once they become a NACE Member.
Here are the NACE Open Premiere details for VALORANT and what to look for.
Open Premiere Teams
Before the games start, it’s a good time to get acquainted with the previous finalists for VALORANT’s Open Premiere. The two teams most worthy of a closer look would be Fisher College Navy and Winthrop University
Both teams are legitimate Top 10 contenders in the nation when it comes to their overall esports rankings. Fisher College even has a strong argument for even top five based on their incredible performances.
Specifically for VALORANT though, Fisher College Navy and Winthrop University are easy picks for top-five collegiate teams. These teams are consistent finalists for collegiate tournaments, and should stay strong for a while.
Fisher College Navy won the previous Open Premiere, and can consistently contend with competitive teams such as Northwood and Blinn. Winthrop University is also a safe bet to see in the finals and seem to face Fisher College Navy in the final matches of nearly every tournament.
The semi-finalists also deserve a shout for their previous placements. UCSB Gold — more specifically Converse Purple — are still teams to look out for.
Converse University can usually be found in the final 12 teams of any given tournament. While it has been hard for them to place among the final teams, they have the talent. Converse has also proven themselves in other titles like Overwatch as a solid university for esports.
UCSB Gold was an underdog in the previous Open Premiere, but still managed to scrape out two close wins against fourth-seed UH Premiere and fifth-seed Dark Knights before being eliminated by the eventual winner.
The Format
Game days for this season will fall on Wednesday and will continue until October 23, when a week break separates the regular season from the postseason. Afterward, the Last Chance Qualifier will eliminate the weakest of the strongest teams before playoffs.
The LCQ will last for a week before another week break for the playoffs, which will begin on November 13 until only two teams remain for the grand finals on November 27.
All other games hosted by NACE will follow the same schedule, the only difference being what day of the week regular season matches will take place.
Streamed matches can be found on NACE Starleague’s Twitch.tv channel when the matches begin on September 11.
Written by Andy Haggard
This article was created as part of an internship collaboration with NACE
The NACE Internship Program is a collaboration between NACE and Esports Illustrated, designed to give students a first look at the wonderful world of esports journalism. Students are hand-selected by the NACE Council overseeing the project. Each student works in tandem with their chosen group to create interesting stories and riveting recaps each week throughout the internship term. Current NACE x ESI Interns: Coordinator Mathew Taylor Assistant Coordinator Thomas McDonald Media Rep David Hunter Writer Andy Haggard Writer Gabrielle DeSena Coordinator Robert "Rob" Gaddy Assistant Coordinator Matthew Hartford Writer Brooks Valdez Media Rep Mitchell McKittrick The National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE) is a nonprofit membership association organized by and on behalf of our member institutions. Together, our members are developing the structure and tools needed to advance collegiate esports in the varsity space. We are collaborating to lay the groundwork in areas such as: Eligibility, Path to Graduation, and Competition & Scholarships. NACE is the largest member association of varsity esports programs at colleges and universities across the U.S.