Riot Scholastic Association announce the first-ever College Valorant Season

Ever since its release, Valorant esports has continued to reach new levels, a fact that has left its counterparts in awe considering its limited time in the industry. After a successful season of Valorant Champions Tour in 2021, they renewed the series for a second edition with additional improvements to the local and regional scenes to provide deserving talent an exposure to the World stage.

Riot Scholastic Association of America (RSAA) was initially formed as the governing body for collegiate and high school esports for League of Legends, but it has now decided to oversee Valorant affairs too by conducting the first College VALORANT Season (CVAL).

Eligibility:

Players must be enrolled in a degree program that lasts at least two years and be in good academic standing at the institution they are competing for as either a full-time student, a part-time student who was a former full-time student, or a part-time student who is less than one academic year from their anticipated graduation. Multiple teams from each school are welcome to compete in CVAL at no cost to both school-supported varsity esports programs as well as student-run club teams

Format:

During the course of the fall, winter, and spring, three competitions will be held and each event will feature a different bracket to go through; therefore, a separate registration process. Similar to the Champions event of the VCT, the CVAL will culminate in the College VALORANT Championship with the final rounds taking place as a LAN event in Los Angeles in the following May or June.

A total of four areas will host these tournaments; although schools are allowed to play on whichever server works best for them, they can only receive credit for the CVAL Championship from one region. Teams will compete in one best-of-three match each day and two matches per week on Saturdays and Sundays. Top 16 teams in each region will gain points depending on their performance, with the exception of the 1st and 2nd place teams from each region's tournament who will automatically qualify for the CVAL Championship. There will be 32 teams in the CVAL Championship tournament, made up of the Top 2-point scorers from each area at the conclusion of the season.

There will be a round robin group phase in each event, where each team plays every other team once. The top team from each group will then advance to a mixed elimination bracket, where the and the first two rounds are single elimination and the remaining eight will be double elimination. Furthermore, t he number of teams joining each event will determine the size of the groups and bracket, however each region's tournament will have a limit of 128 teams.

Schedule:

Fall Tournament

• Registration: 9/9 – 10/7
• Phase 1: 10/24 – 11/6
• Phase 2 11/12 – 12/12 (excluding Thanksgiving weekend)

Winter Tournament

• Registration: 11/28 – 1/6
• Phase 1: 1/16 – 1/29
• Phase 2: 2/4 – 2/26

Spring Tournament

• Registration: 1/23 – 2/27
• Phase 1: 3/13 – 3/26
• Phase 2: 4/1 – 4/30 (excluding Easter weekend)

CVAL Championship

• Online rounds: 5/6 – 5/21
• Live finals: TBD, June or July