2021_Season
01

Introduction

With school back in session, it’s time to start talking about the 2021 College LoL Season. We wanted to first take a moment to recap the 2020 scholastic LoL season. Despite being cut short by school closures, the 2020 season saw more schools, conferences, and matches than ever before.

  • 451 schools competed in the 2020 season, up from 354 in 2019 season, 311 in 2018 and 246 in 2017
  • Over 4,000 total players competed in the 2020 College Season, up from 2,600 in 2019 and 2,300 in 2018
  • 11 athletic conferences officially partnered to participate in the 2020 College Season, up from 6 in 2019 and 2 in 2018, bringing conference championships for League of Legends to their membership
  • 23 high school state associations have officially sanctioned League of Legends, growing the pool of future college players
  • In its second year, the RSAA Board of Advisors added a seventh member and continued to lend expertise to guide the vision of scholastic League of Legends

These milestones wouldn’t be possible without the continued support of the League of Legends community, club officers, competitors, faculty advisors, and university administrators across the U.S. and Canada. We’re excited to talk about 2021 and bring you another school year of College League of Legends.

02

Season Overview

While school looks different this year, the College Season is keeping the same core competition structure as past years.

  • Four regional conferences (North, South, East, and West) competing in a six-week Swiss Format regular season, with 6-0 and 5-1 teams advancing to the playoffs
  • A group of partner athletic conferences competing in their own season formats, with all 11 conferences returning from 2020
  • Conference playoffs and championships that advance schools into the College Championship
  • A 32-school College Championship bracket, with teams qualifying from conference playoffs or at-large selection by the College Championship Selection Committee
  • Scholarship prizes for the top 16 Championship schools, awarded directly to players and student staff
  • An 8-school College Championship finals event to crown the best school in North America
  • The Teemo Cup, a consolation tournament that lets teams who missed their conference playoffs keep competing with RP prizes on the line
  • A Streamer Program to connect independent streamers with college teams and hosting a weekly stream listing on our website
  • Full champion unlocks for all rostered players for the duration of the season

We’re still putting the finishing touches on the 2021 rules, but you can check out last year’s rules and Regional Conference Format for a good baseline. We’ll be releasing the full 2021 rules and format when registration opens on November 2nd.

03

New For 2021

2020 saw lots of big changes, including the new College Championship format, scholarship award changes, increased roster sizes, the introduction of the Code of Conduct, and more. Since we didn’t get a chance to see the postseason changes in action, our biggest 2021 changes are focused on accessibility and opportunities to compete.

To view the full season rules, click here to view our 2021 College LoL Registration Announcement.

Eligibility Extended to Two-Year Schools & Students

We believe that gaming and esports can serve to enrich students’ educational experience, keep them engaged and enrolled, and help them graduate and thrive. For many students, two-year schools and degree programs serve as an affordable, accessible path to higher education, careers, or transfers to four-year schools. To this effect, two-year schools and full-time students working towards two-year degree programs will be eligible to compete in the College LoL Season, starting in 2021.

Diversity & Inclusion

One of the greatest parts of esports is that anyone can get involved, compete, and excel, regardless of who they are. We want to make the College Season a place where all participants are welcome and safe. You’ve seen us make some efforts in this direction already – the Code of Conduct, sportsmanship checks, and the aforementioned inclusion of two-year students, but we know there is even more work to do. We’ll have more to share in a standalone article later this fall about further efforts.

Improved Sportsmanship Check Policy

An ongoing concern for program directors, team managers, and coaches is the risk of finding out in November that a player is ineligible for the College Season because of past in-game behavior. We’re creating clearer guidelines so that players will know if their account history is a risk, staff can explicitly ask prospective players to confirm that they’re in the clear (and have recourse if players fail to disclose issues), and Riot can apply a more consistent standard across a growing number of participants.

04

Registration

During the month of November, registration will be open for club officers and varsity team administrators. You’ll need to provide info for at least five players, your school name, a team logo, and complete a few eligibility forms to get your team squared away. More detailed information about the registration process will be provided when registration opens.

Are you a registered club officer or varsity program lead? A link to the registration page on Battlefy will be emailed to all club officers and RSAA mailing list subscribes on November 2nd. Make sure you add collegiate@riotgames.com to your email contacts to ensure the email doesn’t get sent to spam. We’ll be sending out periodic reminders, so if you register your club late, you can still receive the follow-up emails we’ll send out on November 13 and November 24. Be sure to read and understand the eligibility section of the official rules before you sign up to avoid any mistakes! You can also join the official season Discord to get live help with the registration process from Battlefy staff.

Need to join the RSAA mailing list? Scroll down and sign up in the footer of any RSAA page.

Are you a player that wants to get involved? Get in touch with your local club by checking out the Find-A-Club page.

Registration is open from November 2nd until November 30th at 11:59pm PT. Click here to view our 2021 College LoL Registration Announcement.

05

Important Dates

  • Registration: November 2 – November 30
  • Regional Regular Season*: January 18 – February 28
  • Regional Playoffs*: March 1 – March 28
  • Teemo Cup: March 16 – April 18
  • College Championship: May 1 – May 30

*These dates only apply to Regional Conferences – Partner Conferences will have their own schedule and format to be announced in the future.

06

What’s Next?

We’ll be launching finalized rules and format details on 11/2, when registration opens. In the meantime, make sure you’re either registered as a club or signed up for the RSAA Mailing List to be the first to know when registration information is live.

For more information about season rules and registration, click here to check out our registration announcement article.

To follow along with the competition as a player, manager, or fan! Click here to view the 2021 College LoL Season page on Battlefy.

Welcome to the mailing list!