Baylor Esports Clinches Qualifying Spot in CRL Fall 2025 Season

WACO, Texas – Baylor esports qualified for one of eight spots in the Collegiate Rocket League (CRL) Fall 2025 tournament, rising to the top of a 252-team slate that competed on Saturday, Sept. 28, with all the Bears’ matches held virtually. 

The massive entrant pool was split over eight double-elimination qualifying pools, with Baylor winning the Open Qualifier Pool B2. 

Baylor’s path to qualifying started with 2-0 wins over Penn State (White) and University of Wisconsin-Stout. After dropping a 3-1 decision to Ball State (Black), the Bears drove through the next five matchups, notching wins over GCU (Black), Mizzou, Ball State (Black) and back-to-back wins over Ball State’s primary varsity team to clinch the bracket win.

Baylor is joined in the League Play Split 1 finals with Northwood, Concord, St. Clair, Winthrop, Oklahoma Christian, West Virginia and Cumberland.

Those eight will compete in a Round Robin League Play event on the following schedule:

• Week 1: Oct. 5, 2025, 12 p.m. CT
• Week 2: Oct. 12, 2025, 12 p.m. CT
• Week 3: Oct. 19, 2025, 12 p.m. CT
• Week 4: Oct. 26, 2025, 12 p.m. CT

The bottom four teams from the round robin will face off with the top eight teams from a series of Open 3v3 Tournaments to form a Closed Qualifier on Nov. 1.

The top four teams from the League Play Split 1 and the top four teams from the Closed Qualifier then form the League Play Split 2. Those eight will compete in another Round Robin League Play event on the following schedule: 

• Week 1: Nov. 2, 12 p.m. CT
• Week 2: Nov. 8, 12 p.m. CT
• Week 3: Nov. 9, 12 p.m. CT
• Week 4: Nov. 16, 12 p.m. CT

The top four teams from League Play Split 2 will then compete to become the CRL Fall Champion, with the finals taking place Sunday, Nov. 23, at 12 p.m. CT.

The CRL Fall championships include Scholastic Award Distributions to each team, split equally among the starting players. As a top eight finisher in League Play Split 1, Baylor will earn a minimum of $1,075 and as much as $2,000 – the same amount available if the Bears advance to League Play Split 2.

The Fall Championship will have Scholastic Awards in the amounts of $2,000 for fourth place on up to a $10,000 award for the first-place team.

All games will be played virtually and streamed by one or both schools, with more streaming and broadcast information to come. 

For the inaugural 2025-2026 season, Baylor is sponsoring a three-person Rocket League team, with professional gamers Colby “hockser” James and Andrew “Andy” Nolan already making waves in the global esports community. 

The third seat on the varsity squad for the fall is walk-on Joe “JT” Tornari, who continues to mesh into the lineup, even earning national recognition as the two-time Collegiate Exclusive Player of the Week. Of the top 32 collegiate Rocket League teams, JT stands as one of the only walk-on student-athletes competing on their varsity lineup. The program is actively recruiting a third scholarship athlete to round out the Rocket League varsity team for the spring.

Baylor Esports enhances a longstanding gaming culture within the campus community, joining Oso Esports, Baylor’s gaming club that was established in 2017. Baylor Esports will continue to build partnerships with Oso as a development academy — similar to professional soccer academies — to train and elevate student-athletes for future varsity rosters in expanded gaming competitions. 

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked Research 1 institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 20,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions. Learn more about Baylor University at www.baylor.edu.