Ian Sparks
The Ole Miss Esports League of Legends team has been the pride and joy of the program, currently ranked No. 3 in the nation and fighting for promotion to a semi-professional division after a recent tournament.
League of Legends is an online battle arena video game that was developed in 2009. Two teams of five players fight in player vs. player combat, both attempting to occupy and defend each end of the map. The goal is to destroy the opponent’s central command hub.
The Ole Miss Esports League of Legends team, founded in May 2021, has won multiple tournaments that have paid out large cash prizes. In its most recent matchup against CCG Esports, a fellow amateur team, Ole Miss fell short of the grand final and $12,500 prize pool but received a solid $3,125.
Director of Esports John McDermott noted that this year alone, Ole Miss Esports has earned around $11,000 in winnings.
The team is in Tier 3 Amateur and playing in relegations matches to move up a division into Tier 2- Semi-professional. If they gain promotion, they would join an illustrious list of universities who are at that level.
“As it stands right now there are only three other colleges in all of the United States that can call themselves professional in this sense,” McDermott said. “In League of Legends specifically, there has only been one college to ever promote. We aim to be the second.”
With promotion to pro status on the horizon, the team is currently competing at the top end of the collegiate level.
“They are also in the process of their college playoffs right now,” McDermott said. “They are essentially a lock for the national championships and most likely will be a number one seed, at minimum a two seed.”
The team has been in the same position before and have taken lessons from their experiences. Head Coach of the Ole Miss Esports League of Legends team Brandon Collamer said that this team has moved past their previous shortcomings.
“We were okay last year making the Sweet 16 of nationals before falling,” Collamer said. “This year we’ve improved tenfold, taking series off teams with former pros, along with our own improvement happening at a rapid pace.”
This improvement is evident in their race for promotion as they near toward meeting their fate. The strides made in just a year’s time could prove to be everything needed to push them over the line.
“We managed to break our third/fourth place curse last year and made our first finals last week. Now we’re in a position to make the NA Challengers League, which would be the equivalent of Triple-A in baseball,” Collamer said.
With the addition of new games such as College Football 25, coupled with the ever-growing nature of League of Legends, there is no telling the heights Ole Miss Esports will reach.
