College CoD East: last week of League Play sets up playoff implications

Ant Stonelake

Ant Stonelake

The College CoD East Divisions have been competitive this year, but Fisher and Mars Hill are rising to the top.

League Play is in the books and the two College CoD East Divisions are taking their final shapes ahead of playoffs.

Meanwhile, all 12 teams in both Northeast and Southeast Division 1 will make it through to the playoffs, with the top eight getting a first-round bye when it comes to regional playoffs.

Fisher players continue to dominate

The third-place team in the power rankings for a reason, Fisher College rounded out their League Play in perfect fashion. The squad, including Call of Duty World Champion Justin "SiLLY" Fargo, did not drop a single map in their flawless 11-0 run in the Northeast.

They swept away the bottom-placed Utica University in their last match of the regular season to make sure that they head into the playoffs with the top seed.

The situation regarding a final couple of bye spots in the Northeast playoffs is extremely tight. Although only Penn State can creep in from outside of the playoffs, they could technically rise as high as fourth if they win all of their remaining games.

Brock University, Ohio University, and Utica University are the three teams that stand no chance of making it through to the playoffs in the Northeast when all is said and done. Ohio University and Utica University both sit at 1-8 before playing their final two games.

Even winning both games wouldn't be enough for them as the 3-6 Lebanon Valley beat both teams already this term.

The format of College CoD this year means all three of these teams will still make the playoffs, but none of them will be getting a bye in the first round. All 24 teams in College CoD East Division 1 will be in the playoffs.

The fight for top seed in the Southeast Division

Elsewhere, the Southeast Division isn't as cut and dry. With most teams still to play at the time of writing, things could still change massively.

Realizing their potential at the top of the Southeast Division is Mars Hill. They currently sit at 9-0 and have one single map against them in a 27-1 map record.

Last Chance Qualifier graphic (Image via College CoD)
Last Chance Qualifier graphic (Image via College CoD)

It's even better by the fact that they beat their closest rivals University of North America 3-0. Those three map wins were the only ones University of North America lost so far this term.

Keeping up at the bottom of the table in Division 1 Southeast is Concord. They lost all 11 series in League Play and didn't even win a single map.

Barring any late slip ups, most of the standings are set in stone. Florida International do, however, stand a realistic chance of breaking into that top eight. However, that's only if they win their final match of League Play and secure a first-round bye in the playoffs. Doing so will put Louisiana State and Highpoint on the line of missing out.

Outside of the top eight, University of Central Florida could also sneak into the playoffs with a win in their last series, but they would still need all of the other results to go their way, including University of Tennessee at Chattanooga losing all four of their remaining games.

Mars Hill, University of North America, and James Madison are by far the best teams in this division and they continue to show it.

All about the Last Chance Qualifier

Before we get to the playoffs, there is the small issue of having a Last Chance Qualifier. The bottom eight teams in Division 2 in both regions and teams from the Open Division will all be able to take part in search of a spot in the playoffs.

Eight teams from the Last Chance Qualifier will make it through to the playoffs to round out a 24-team bracket of regional playoffs in both the Northeast and Southeast.

The winning team of both playoff brackets will secure one of the four places at a LAN available to the playoff winners. Teams that finish second through fourth will move to a LAN to compete for the final four spots in the Championship bracket.

Stay tuned to esports.gg for all the latest College CoD East news and updates.