We are now in the second week of League Play, and things are heating up. Every team who qualified this season is giving it their all, and it’s exciting to see such a surplus of talent and skill that seems to be improving with every season. With three weeks of League Play left, the top teams will need to keep their pressure to stay on top, and the bottom teams will need to step up their game to qualify for the playoffs of their conference. This week’s most notable teams are as follows:
EAST:
The UCF Knights are the only team that remain undefeated so far. This power team consisting of players “Luke,” “Azfura,” and “Bambii” have been cutting down all who oppose them, including Northwood University Blue, who UCF beat 3-1 to give Northwood Blue their first series loss. Their 8-0 series record is very impressive, and they’ve shown so far that they’re the top team in League Play this season.
Northwood Blue are in a close second, though, as they’ve had a great run so far. Players “Buddy,” “Pirates,” and “hockE” have played most of the team’s matches, and they’ve done a phenomenal job, earning the team a 6-1 series record as of Sunday, February 27th. Of course, former Northwood White champions “LionBlaze” and “Noxes” are on the sidelines too, ready to be subbed in if the team needs them.
VESPA, or Virginia Esports Association, are trailing in third with a series record of 6-3. VESPA’s roster consisting of players “Aekoh,” “fayble,” and “Nivo” were able to place 7th in the Eastern Conference last season, and they’ve put up a good fight so far this season.
Stockton University, who placed 4th in the Eastern conference last season, are showing the same placement so far this season. With a series record of 5-1, their roster consisting of players “TopCheese,” “Dripinho,” and “Busse” could place even higher when they get the chance to play more matches, as some of their higher-ranking counterparts have played some of their matches ahead of schedule.
The Akron Zips are currently ranked 5th with a series record of 5-2. While Akron aren’t currently in the top 4, they definitely have the potential to be with a roster consisting of former, multiple-time national champions “Buzz” and “Reticence,” as well as talented newbie “Fal.”
St. Clair Saints Gold have fallen to 6th place, holding the same series record as Akron, 5-2. The reason Akron is placed higher is because Akron has a game difference (wins-losses) of 10, while the Saints have a game difference of 7. The Saints’ roster consisting of players “Spoods,” “Comp,” and “Jay” were able to place 8th in the Eastern Conference last season, and seem to have improved their performance so far this season by ranking two places higher as of writing this article.
In 7th and 8th place are RIT Orange and USF Esports respectively, both holding even series records of 4-4 and 3-3 respectively. These two teams have played well, but will have to perform better in the coming weeks to qualify for the Conference Playoffs.
The full Week 2 East League Play Standings can be seen below:
WEST:
The University of Nevada Las Vegas is undefeated in West so far. UNLV placed first in the Western Conference Playoffs last season, placing 4th overall in the National Championship. This season, they’ve switched player “TheWheat” to a sub position, and new player “Tuv” has taken his place, joining the likes of the other two players from their former roster, “NytroDryft” and “Garenn.” This team is unstoppable so far, and it’s awesome to see how far they’ve come since the beginning of last season. They currently place first in West, and have a record of 6-0.
Columbia College are another team that did very well last season, placing 2nd in the West Conference Playoffs and 3rd overall in the National Championship. This season, they’ve continued their dominance over the West region, and their roster consisting of players “Cryptic,” “CosmicFlippy,” and former sub “cam.” have a perfect 6-0 record, the same as UNLV. Columbia College and UNLV are nearly tied for 1st place, with UNLV holding a series record of 17 while Columbia College hold a record of 16. Columbia could easily overtake UNLV simply by winning 1 more game and not losing any others, so UNLV will have to watch their backs.
In 3rd place with a series record of 5-1 are Mizzou Gold. Mizzou were able to place 8th in Western League Play last season, and seem to have improved drastically this season. Their roster consisting of “Chox,” “Crimz,” and “Whale!” have put their opponents to the test, and they look good moving forward. Mizzou have a good chance of qualifying for the Conference Playoffs this season if they continue to perform as well as they have so far.
In 4th place with a series record of 4-1 is UT Arlington. Arlington’s roster of players “samba,” “Adverse,” and “Nava” were able to place 6th in League Play last season, which meant they were unable to qualify for the conference playoffs. However, this season, they’re doing well, and if they’re able to stay in 4th place, they’ll have a chance at qualifying for this season’s Conference Playoffs.
LSU hold 5th place with a series record of 3-0. So far, they’ve been able to go undefeated. However, they have yet to play many of their scheduled games, so we could see their record change either for better or for worse moving forward. Last season, LSU weren’t able to make it to League Play. They have shifted last season’s roster consisting of players “ayjacks,” “BrohnB,” “MisterQuake,” and “relaks,” getting rid of relaks, switching MisterQuake to a sub role, and bringing a new player onto the roster named “Ravenyyte.” These changes seem to be working out for them, considering how much farther they’ve made it so far this season as compared to last season.
In 6th place, Missouri S&T have had a decent performance with a 3-2 series record. This team consisting of players “Tyme,” “Frostbite,” and “Burnie” was unable to qualify for League Play last season, placing 8th in Qualifier #1 when the cutoff was 6th place. They’ve improved this season, however, and continue to impress. The only two series they’ve dropped so far have been against the top two West teams, UNLV and Columbia College, so their 3-2 record is still impressive in its own right.
In 7th and 8th place are Cal Poly and the Ottawa Braves, with series records of 3-3 and 2-3 respectively. These two teams are underdogs, and considered “bubble” teams based on their performance from last season, so hopefully we can see them pick up some slack before League Play is over.
The full Week 2 West League Play Standings can be seen below:
LOOKING AHEAD TO WEEK 3:
Tune in this week to see your favorite CRL teams play on both the Rocket League channel and the CCA channel. Check out the CRL Spring 2022 Mastersheet to find out where and when to cheer on your favorite teams!
