Two weeks of regular season left in ESC Week 10 Preview

Zachary Roberson

Zachary Roberson

What’s coming up in Week 10?

Week 10 (Apr. 2) is here for the Esports Collegiate Conference (ESC) Overwatch 2 regular season! With Spring Break ending many teams are back on campus and ready to finish off the last two weeks of the regular season. It is coming down to the wire for many schools on the edge of that top eight standing.

Miami remains as the only undefeated team after week ten of the season. Now they must keep their win streak alive with two more weeks left of competition to secure first place for playoffs. Northeastern is right behind the RedHawks hoping for two series losses from Miami in the last two weeks.

ESC Week 9 Round 1 Overwatch 2 results (Image via eFuse)
ESC Week 9 Round 1 Overwatch 2 results (Image via eFuse)

ESC Week 9 recap

Over Week 9 we had double the action across the conference with many teams still on Spring Break. You could tell that Spring Break threw a wrench into many of the teams gameplans and a large of subs were used across the conference in Week 9. Some important series wins came out during Week 9 including Bowling Greens map five win against Northern Illinois to give them the tiebreaker and a game ahead in the race for top eight seeding.

ESC Week 9 Round 2 Overwatch 2 results (Image via eFuse)
ESC Week 9 Round 2 Overwatch 2 results (Image via eFuse)

Now Western Michigan and Northern Illinois are tied with records of (5-6) for that last seed for playoffs with only two weeks left to go. They are also only one game behind Akron and Bowling Green and two losses from either of them to end the season could knock them out of a top eight finish.

ESC Overwatch 2 standings after Week 8 (Image via eFuse)
ESC Overwatch 2 standings after Week 8 (Image via eFuse)

ESC Week 10 preview

A huge match for playoff seeding implications headlines the stream this week with Akron and Northern Illinois battling it out.

Miami looks to secure first place with a win over Buffalo this week. Meanwhile, Toledo continues to look for their first win against second place Northeastern.

These are all storylines heading into Week 10. Continue reading to find out more about these storylines.

ESC Week 10 Schedule (Image via eFuse)
ESC Week 10 Schedule (Image via eFuse)

ESC Week 10: Broadcasted match of the week

The ESC broadcast continues this week with the Northern Illinois University facing off against the University of Akron on the official ESC Twitch account. For the games that will not be on the broadcast, check out the individual streams from each school's broadcast channels linked below their previewed match.

ESC Week 10 Overwatch 2 broadcasted matchup (Image via eFuse)
ESC Week 10 Overwatch 2 broadcasted matchup (Image via eFuse)

Northern Illinois versus Akron (Overwatch 2): Apr. 2 at 8 p.m. EST*

We find ourselves in the midst of a crucial series for two schools on broadcast this week. Northern Illinois must scrape together two wins in the final two weeks to make it into playoff seeding while Akron try to hold on to their top six standing.

Akron has gone above and beyond this season after last year's performance. Tripling the amount of wins they had last year, the Zips have the chance to do a complete 180 by securing a spot in the playoffs. Northern Illinois on the other hand would be losing out on playoffs for the first time in Overwatch after many successful seasons.

ESC Week 10: Highlighted matches

Miami versus Buffalo (Overwatch 2): Apr. 2 at 8 p.m. EST*

Senior support Riley "Fahzix" Taylor has helped the RedHawks continue their undefeated season. "We are excited to get back into the swing of things after Spring Break :)," Taylor had to say as the team had some close matches in Week 9 against Eastern Michigan and Northern Illinois. With a win over Buffalo, Miami would secure first place even if they were to lose to Akron in Week 11.

For Buffalo, postseason dreams no longer exist for the squad in New York. However, the Bulls can cause some pain to the side of two teams towards the end of the season and end the year with a positive note.

Kent State versus Western Michigan (Overwatch 2): Apr. 2 at 8 p.m. EST*

The Kent State Golden Flashes meet up with Western Michigan in Week 10. This match is a crucial one for Western Michigan as they need to string together their week ten and eleven matches to keep their standing in the top eight. With four teams one game out of one another these last two season will be interesting.

With a win for Kent State, it would put the team in a good spot in the standings and a chance of a top four seed depending on other results around the conference. The Golden Flashes continue to place well across all titles in the ESC and with a chance of good seeding for the playoffs they can look for their first ESC trophy.

Stay tuned to esports.gg for more ESC esports news and updates.