Expanded Esports program ready to open 2023-24 season

Brawlhalla Collegiate Homecoming Tournament
Mid-America Gamers Expo (MAGE)
Bellevue Esports Twitch Channel
Bellevue Esports Schedule
Bellevue Esports Roster

BELLEVUE, Neb. -- The Bellevue University esports team has expanded their offerings for the 2023-24 season to feature six titles and is sponsoring the first-ever collegiate Brawlhalla tournament. Coach David Castillo-Ferrin will lead his group in his first full season at the helm, after arriving at BU in September of last year.

This year Bellevue will offer sponsor competition in Apex Legends, Call of Duty, League of Legends, Overwatch 2, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and Valorant. Last season Bellevue competed in Overwatch 2 during the fall, debuted Call of Duty during the spring season, and revived League of Legends (BU's original title) during the spring.

In addition, Bellevue University will be the title sponsor for the inaugural Brawlhalla Collegiate Tournament. Bruin esport athletes will participate in the 1-v-1 event. The Brawlhalla Collegiate Homecoming Tournament will take place over three Saturday's, beginning Saturday, Aug. 26. The second date will be Saturday, Sept. 16 and third is set for Saturday, Oct. 21 with the quarterfinals through finals being broadcast on the BU Esports Twitch Channel.

Brawlhalla is a free 2D platform fighting game that supports up to eight local or online players with full cross-play for PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, iOS and Android. History's greatest warriors - with 50 playable legends - brawl to prove who's the best in an epic test of strength and skill.

Apex Legends

Kobe Alexander -- GetSaucedOn77
Robert Garcia -- beefmachine
Jose Mendez-Ortiz -- JoseM

"Apex Legends" is a free-to-play hero shooter game where legendary competitors battle for glory, fame, and fortune on the fringes of the Frontier. It's played as a battle royale, pitting teams against multiple colleges simultaneously.

Bellevue's "Apex Legends" team will compete this fall in the American Video Game League (AVGL). Matches occur bi-weekly with the Bruins opening play at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 30. Once the calendar flips to November, BU will compete in the Challengers Series with information becoming more available closer to the start.

Call of Duty

Kobe Alexander -- GetSaucedOn77
Noah Gragg -- Eenyo
Zeju Li -- Jason Lee
Joseph Porter -- Xage

"Call of Duty" is the world's best-selling first person shooter (FPS) video game franchise. Last season was BU's first in sponsoring a Call of Duty team and competing in the Efuse CCL Open Division. While their tournament schedule has not been finalized, they look to build upon their foundations in 2023-24.

League of Legends

Logan Caldwell -- Ace
Cory Drennan -- CoryBlink
Myah Foxworthy -- TragicFox
Logan Mosser -- AZAZELz27
Joseph Porter -- Xage
Linfeng Tang -- Kouyechris

Following a two-year hiatus, "League of Legends" returned to Bellevue's esports program in 2022-23. It is a team-based game with over 140 champions with which to make epic plays. The first title ever offered as a Bruin esport laid the foundation for the current program. Last season the team posted a 5-2 record in the GG Leagues.

This year they will compete in NACE (National Association of Collegiate Esports) with their tournament schedule beginning on Tuesday, Oct. 10 with matches contested on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6 p.m. The full bracket will be released closer to the tournament's start date.

Overwatch 2

Veronica Haggerty -- Wicca
Avery Hogue -- AV2RY
Mark Kvashin -- Karova
Nick McCormick -- Vita
Stone Nettles -- Stone

"Overwatch 2" is a critically acclaimed, team-based shooter game set in an optimistic future with an evolving roster of heroes.

Bellevue's signature esport offering over the past few years, "Overwatch 2" reached the bracket round of all four major tournaments in which they competed last year. The Bruins took fifth place at the Harrisburg University Esports Invitational, reached the semifinals in the NACE Starleague, qualified for the Round of 32 in Overwatch Collegiate Homecoming, and reached the group stage of the Overwatch Collegiate Championship.

This year they will also compete in the Overwatch Collegiate Championship with that tournament scheduled beginning on Saturday, Sept. 9 with matches contested on Saturdays throughout the fall. The full bracket will be released closer to the tournament's start date. "Overwatch 2" will also compete inthe Mid-America Gamers Expo (MAGE) on Sunday, September 10. The MAGE event consists primarily of midwest teams with the top teams competing live on stage for in-person viewing.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Josiah Ellwein -- VC
Noah Gragg -- Eenyo

"Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" is one of two titles that BU is debuting in 2023-24. It is the fifth installment of the Super Smash Bros. series and is a crossover fighting game developed by Bandai Namco Studios and Sora Ltd, published by Nintendo. Josiah Ellwein will be representing BU at the MAGE, competing in the SSBU tournament on Saturday, Sept. 9 with the top eight players advancing to play on Sunday, Sept. 10. "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" is an open tournamnet where all of the top 10 players in the area are expected to compete.

Bellevue will be competing in a collegiate Smash league with information about the competition expected to be released within the next month. The tournament will likely start some time in October. 

Valorant

Kobe Alexander -- GetSaucedOn77
Robert Garcia -- beefmachine
Zeju Li -- Jason Lee
Jose Mendez-Ortiz -- JoseM
Joseph Porter -- Xage 

Bellevue will also debut "Valorant" during the 2023-24 season. "Valorant" is a 5-v-5 character-based tactical FPS where precise gunplay meets unique agent abilities. The game is developed by Riot games for Windows, the same developer who developed "League of Legends."

"Valorant" will be the third BU esports competing in a NACE. The team will be competing in NACE's spring season with information, including the full bracket, to be released closer to the tournament's start date.