A Red Bird Rivalry and a battle of Ohio in ESC Week 8 Preview

Week 8 is here for the Esports Collegiate Conference (ESC) Overwatch 2 regular season! March 19 marks the action for week 8. Week nine brings a double header week of ESC action. Lets see how the teams fair off in Week 8.

Miami remains as the only undefeated team after week seven. Ball State fell to a hungry pack of Northeastern Huskies in a 3-0 sweep. Now the Cardinals must bounce back this week against the RedHawks in the Red Bird Rivalry matchup. With huge ties to final seeding later on, this matchup is a must watch.

Week seven brought some amazing competition throughout the conference. Ball State falling to Northeastern marked the biggest story from the week of competition. Northeastern took over the second place mantle and made Miami the sole owner of first place. On the other side of the conference Akron, Bowling Green, Ohio, and Kent State continued to show they belong in the Top 8.

Western Michigan's win over Buffalo now puts the Broncos in a good spot to get into the Top 8 of the standings later on. This week Western Michigan has a crucial match against Akron. This key match could determine if they make it into playoffs or watch from the sideline.

A Battle of Ohio schools marks this week's highlighted broadcast while a Red Bird Rivalry soars across the conference. Northeastern looks to hold their second place standing against a top five Kent State squad this week.

In the middle of the standings Akron must hold off a charging Western Michigan Broncos team that are looking to get themselves into the Top 8.

These are all storylines heading into Week 8. Continue reading to find out more about these storylines.

The ESC broadcast continues this week with the Ohio University facing off against Bowling Green 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.

Ohio University (6-2) meet up against Bowling Green State University (5-3) on this week's featured broadcast for a Battle of Ohio.

Ohio wants to remain near the top four of the standings with their current (6-2) record. Out of the top eight teams only Akron and Northeastern left on their schedule. The rest of their matchups are teams in the bottom half of the conference. The Bobcats should feel confident in placing a high seed for playoffs as long as nothing goes off the rails.

Bowling Green has the chance to take Ohio off the rails with a win this week and provide a good safety cushion for a top eight finish this Spring. For Bowling Green they still have Miami, Ball State, and Northern Illinois remaining on their schedule out of the teams in the current top eight. A win over Ohio would be massive for the Falcons and give them a very high chance of making playoffs.

A Red Bird Rivalry swoops in this week for a crucial match for the top of the standings in the ESC. This match is being played in person this week at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. The RedHawks will be traveling over for a must win match against their red bird rivals.

A rematch of last years ESC championship between Ball State (7-1) and Miami (7-0) has major inflictions on the standings moving forward. A win for Miami would keep Miami's undefeated season alive and put Ball State in third place with two losses. However, if Ball State takes the rivalry match then they will cement themselves in a three way tie for first place with Miami and Northeastern.

Both teams have slightly weaker schedules moving forward after this week. Therefore, they should place at the top tier of the conference heading into playoffs. Four matches remain but this is the biggest match for either of these schools this season.

Akron (5-3) find themselves in a middle of the standings match against Western Michigan (3-5). For Akron this match is crucial to provide a cushion between the bottom six teams in the fourteen team standings. If they are to lose to Western Michigan this will put the Zips in striking distance of being knocked out of the top eight. Western Michigan would also hold the tiebreaker against Akron in case they do tie at the end of the regular season split.

Western Michigan has found themselves in a tough spot after convincing the conference that they are ones to look out for in Week 1 against Ball State. They took a map off the reigning champs but havent been able to string maps in many of their series so far this year. With two map five losses against Northern Illinois and Bowling Green, the Broncos are now in must win territory for the rest of the season.

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