The NA Collegiate Championship is back!

Riot·Sep 24, 2015·2 votes·44,589 views

This fall the North American Collegiate Championship (NACC) returns for its third season with a new format aimed at taking college esports to the next level. Learn more about this season’s changes and find out how your campus can get involved!

Last year was a huge milestone for college esports, with over 1,600 college teams and 300 schools from across the U.S. and Canada participating in the NACC. However, with so many teams competing, it was nearly impossible for you to watch, follow, and cheer for your favorite college teams throughout the season.

In order to improve this experience we’re running an open qualifier in November that will determine who the 32 best college teams are in North America. This way we can focus on top-tier collegiate play and provide you with more opportunities to follow and cheer on your favorite teams throughout the school year.

Read on to learn more about this year’s changes and how your campus can get involved!

What's the new format?

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Any eligible college team can register to participate in the Open Qualifier in November. Split by region, the four qualifier brackets will determine the 8 teams that will represent each region in the 2016 NACC Regular Season. After each conference crowns their champion, the 4 best college teams in NA will battle it out live at the 2016 NACC Final!

What’s on the line?

As in years past, teams participating in the North American Collegiate Championship are competing for scholarships and bragging rights as best college team NA. Each player who earns a spot in the 2016 NACC Regular Season will be taking home a scholarship to further their education. The breakdown is as follows:

Finishing Position	Scholarship Per Player
1st	$30,000
2nd	$15,000
3rd-4th	$7,500
5th-8th	$4,000
9th-16th	$2,000
17th-32nd	$1,000

How do I get involved?

Look for an announcement on lolesports.com when registration opens on October 5th. It’s completely free to register and play. Each team must have 6 total eligible players to participate.

In order to be eligible, you must...

be an enrolled college student in good standing at an accredited institution in the U.S. or Canada
be at least 17 years old by November 1, 2015
have a NA LoL account in good standing and eligible for ranked games

Need more info?

You can check out the complete rules for the 2016 North American Collegiate Championship here.

And don’t forget to visit lolesports.com on October 5 to register your team!

Good Luck!

60 Comments

TurquoiseYoshiSep 25, 20155 votes

Please Riot.

SHOW IT SOMEWHERE! I WANNA WATCH!

RiotShermanSep 25, 20157 votes

We'll have more details about how to follow the action soon!

TurquoiseYoshiSep 25, 20152 votes

Intense hype for possibly being able to watch NACC without actually attending a match.

PeregrinSep 25, 20154 votes

Is it possible for a university to have multiple teams in the Round Robin?

AerothalSep 25, 20152 votes

yes please! Riot could host it, the universities usually have fiber networks. pretty sure admins could be convinced to not throttle bandwidth... how cool would it be to have those on Riots streaming platform!!!

DesideriumSep 28, 20154 votes

Shout out to Riot Trynaus. Met him in a Dom game a few days ago, told me he works on the Collegiate team. Swell guy!

ToastedBeefSep 25, 20153 votes

is riot interested for one with highschoolers? im in highschool atm and i would like some scholarship money;/

MelloRelicSep 27, 20152 votes

Ofc not. because not all highschoolers go to college. and high school (usually) doesnt have outrageous tuition fees like colleges.

JangbolsalSep 25, 20153 votes

How can you be on a good standing when you devote yourself to the league?

The Chøsen OneSep 25, 20152 votes

Are substitutes and/or analysts also eligible the scholarship?

RiotShermanSep 26, 20152 votes

All 6 registered players on the team are eligible for scholarships.

TheLastRaptorSep 25, 20151 votes

Is the open qualifier still through CSL or IVYLol?

RiotShermanSep 26, 20152 votes

No, we are doing a qualifier with WellPlayed because we didn't want to disrupt CSL from launching their regular season.

MaxPayne7Sep 25, 20151 votes

Dear RIOT Why is there only 8 teams per region during the season? Should each college not be able to compete season long as other athletic sports? I would like to opportunity to play on a college team through the year instead of having just one chance in November, even if every game is lost.

OlesSep 26, 20151 votes

They are basically setting up a tier system, and if you dont play in the top tier, then they arent going to offer money or waste time running a league that no one will watch, or even care about. There are non rito tournys and such you can enter

AlchyrSep 26, 20151 votes

The sad feeling of being in college, but only being 16 and therefore being unable to participate. item 3070

614botSep 26, 20151 votes

I feel you even though im 14 and in highschool. XD item 3070

DanterminaterSep 28, 20151 votes

O.o that feeling when you realize you've been playing with people that are 4 years younger than you

No PlatSep 26, 20151 votes

Hey RiotSherman, two questions,

If I register as my team's manager, am I eligible for a scholarship?
Will coaching be allowed at any stage of the tournament? I wanted to be the manager for my team but I also coach them.

ChiyeukSep 26, 20151 votes

If you register as a manager and as one of the 6 players, then you are eligible for scholarship.

legendlo2Sep 26, 20151 votes

can riot please do a youth lcs???? any idea?

OlesSep 26, 20153 votes

The regualr LCS is a youth LCS, players are 18-25. dont get much younger then that

DiodeOct 4, 20151 votes

get off of league 3rd grader.

s950tx16wasr10Sep 26, 20151 votes

I just have a quick question about being "in good standing". What exactly does that mean? Thanks

JosepheousSep 26, 20151 votes

I believe it means that you are not banned or otherwise punished at the time when you are on the team, but yea, RIOT please clarify this.

Edit: I looked it up in the PDF of rules.

1.2.2. Enrollment Status. Players must be currently enrolled and in academic good standing as either (a) full time student, as classified by the institution, or (b) a part time student that whose previous semester was enrolled as a full time student, as defined by the respective institution. 2016 NACC Rules v1.0 Page 3 9/23/15 Players must additionally be eligible to participate in school sanctioned club or competitive sports, as defined by the respective institution. 1.2.3. Riot Disciplinary Status. Players may not have any current disciplinary suspension from Riotaffiliated competitions. Suspensions from the LCS or foreign leagues will be upheld by NACC

RiotShermanSep 27, 20153 votes

If your school would prohibit you from participating in any school events like sports teams because your GPA is too low, then you can't participate.

DiodeOct 4, 20152 votes

getting good at league is all about sacrificing GPA kappa

White Fang NgSep 26, 20151 votes

what school is it?

0ojYRwzHs5Sep 26, 20151 votes

What about coaches?

Funk EnterprizeSep 27, 20151 votes

Do the players need to be from the same school? The impression from last time was that you do, but I didn't see anything mentioning it in this year's rule set

RiotShermanSep 27, 20151 votes

Yes, players need to be from the same school.

0ojYRwzHs5Sep 29, 20151 votes

Hi,

We don't want to register 6 players from our school. Is it possible to register a coach as our 6th player and he will be eligible for the prize pool even though he's not from our school?

Or what about only having 5 players registered and just distribute the prize pool among the 5? The way we have our team set up is that our sub will get no play time because our top 5 players are all master-level and hes platinum. I don't understand having the sub get a share of the prize pool if he's going to be doing no work. We already have a coach for this season but he has already graduated from school.

0ojYRwzHs5Sep 29, 20151 votes

Also as a followup, the qualifier format will not get the top 8 teams from the region. It's possible the 2nd best school from the region could play the 1st best school in their region 2nd round. The seeding is irrelevant because that was from last year. Our team beat Irvine and San Jose before but we didn't bother playing in latter tournaments because we know we couldn't beat UBC. You guys really need to change the format to a large round robin to determine the top 8 teams.

dHovSep 27, 20151 votes

You could be like me and be the only person at your university who plays.(I've asked everybody.)

AbyssalarrgSep 27, 20151 votes

What is required from the schools in order for their students to participate? Do they have any paperwork, etc that needs to be done on their end in order for the students to participate?

RiotShermanSep 27, 20152 votes

You don't need anything official from your school to participate, we will be sending the players in the top 32 some paperwork to fill out as they prepare for the regular season.

1st Time JungleSep 28, 20151 votes

For those of us who are in college and need a team, is there a way we can find teams looking for additional players within our university on lolesports?

RiotRandomnewguySep 29, 20151 votes

One of the best ways for you to get connected with other players on campus is through your campus video game/esports or League of Legends club.

OpositiveWolfSep 29, 20151 votes

Can players from different schools form a team and compete?

ZaltySep 30, 20151 votes

Is there any kind of seeding?

QuartzGolemSep 30, 20151 votes

Do all members have to be from the same College??? If yes, then damn it

mageblade66Sep 30, 20151 votes

When does registration end?

GD goldtitanOct 1, 20151 votes

Q1) RE: Section 1.3 - Does owning a quantity of ~25 shares of TENCENT (TCEHY) qualify in the category as a "Riot Employee"? Q2) Can there be multiple teams representing from the same school?