College Apex is BACK — Season 3 is shaping up to be the biggest year yet 🏆🎮
Good morning r/CompetitiveApex! 👋
My name is Loopy, some of you may know of me and my time here in this sub and community, Ive taken a little hiatus from the scene to primarily foster and help develop the educational side of esports. We (Collegiate Apex Community) have made incredible strides since 2019 running queue-snipes and hosting underground tournaments - to now, Apex is quickly climbing the ranks as one of the most popular titles in Collegiate and HS, each year I have been a part of the scene we have grown in numbers and now we can expect to hit close to 160+ unique schools participating across our leagues!
For anyone who hasn't heard of us specifically — College Apex is the official collegiate partner of EA/Apex Legends, and in our launch of Season 3 we are bringing some of the biggest structural changes we've had yet. The overall goal is to bring this product closer to an ALGS for Collegiate and serve as the championship event for all competitors across collegiate.
So, without further ado - let's break down everything that's changing and give the community the full rundown!
## 🆕 What's New This Season
- 🏆 **Free preseason seeding tournament** (Sept 18–20)
- 📖 **Rulebook and format overhaul**
- 🎓 **Internship opportunities** for students involved with the league
- 📅 **Full Fall & Spring season** — no more single-semester format
- 😴 **Built-in bye weeks** since the season is now running much longer
- 🌎 **Scheduling built around ALGS Pro League/CC** so there's no conflict for players competing at both levels
- 📣 **More content and community coverage** throughout the season
## 🗓️ Key Dates
- **Preseason event registration opens:** July 30th
- **Preseason event:** Sept 18–20 (free, open to all approved collegiate rosters)
- **Split 1 registration opens:** August 4th
- **Split 1 (Fall Semester):** Oct 3rd – Dec 19th *(proposed)*
- **Split 2 (Spring Semester):** Dates TBD
Regular season matches are **Saturdays at 7 PM EST**. If there's a scheduling conflict with ALGS Pro League or Challenger Circuit, we push start time to **8:30 PM EST** instead. Finals are budgeted for two days but may condense to one depending on sign-up #s.
## 🎯 How Seeding & Ranking Works
This is probably the biggest structural change for Season 3. Seeding will now combine **previous years' results** with a brand-new event: the **College Apex Legends Open** — a free, open bracket for any approved collegiate roster, single elimination, that feeds directly into conference rankings for each split.
If we get at least **80 teams** signed up for the Open, that number becomes the foundation for a full **Champions and Challengers conference split**.
Group seeding is built to maximize diversity of matchups — seeds get staggered across groups based on how many groups exist. So with 4 groups:
- Group A gets seeds #1, #5, #9...
- Group B gets seeds #2, #6, #10...
- and so on down the line.
This spreads talent out and gives every group a mix of favorites and underdogs based on where they landed in the Open.
## 🏁 Conference & Split Finals Structure
- Depending on signups, teams split into **two conferences**, each with at least **40 teams** across up to **4 groups**.
- The **top 10 point-earning teams** from both conferences advance to **Split Finals**.
- Finals are match-point format, targeted for one day, but can spill into day two if no winner is decided.
- The **Split winner + top 4 point-earning teams** qualify for the **Nationals bracket**.
- This entire process repeats for **Split 2**.
## 🎟️ LCQ (Last Chance Qualifier)
- **No cap** on the number of teams that can enter.
- Top teams from Split 1 and Split 2 earn **priority POI draft picks** based on PMP (Point Match Points) accumulated across the season.
- LCQ is a **match-point series**, with draft order set by round-play ranking.
## 🏆 Qualifying for The National Championship
Teams can punch their ticket to The College Apex National Championship through any of the following paths:
- Top 3 finish in the Fall Split
- Top 3 finish in the Spring Split
- Top 4 in full-year PMP points
- Top # finish in a season/league to be announced*
- Top 3 from the ECAC season
- Top 5 from the LCQ
Qualification is priority-based — if a team locks in through a higher-priority method, they get removed from consideration for the lower ones (so a team that qualifies via Fall Split placement won't also eat up a year-long PMP qualification slot). Once a team qualifies for Nationals, **they're done competing in the regular season** until Nationals itself.
Nationals will be held live at the **NECC Nationals LAN event** — exact date/location TBA so teams can plan travel accordingly.
## 💵 Pricing
- **NECC Members:** $75 per split / $45 for the LCQ
- **Non-Members:** $90 per split / $50 for the LCQ
Prizing for Nationals is still **TBD** and will be split across the **top 10 teams** in the Nationals bracket. Regular season splits and the LCQ do not carry a prize pool themselves — it's all building toward the big Nationals payout.
## 📋 Rulebook
Rules and format are still subject to minor tuning before the season kicks off. Any adjustments will be posted in the **Collegiate Apex Legends Discord** announcements channel, so keep an eye there.
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### 🔗 Get Involved
If you're planning to compete this year, or want to get involved on the staff side, here's everything you need:
- 📄 **Season 3 full announcement:** https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nD-LC9rqaSTn_LC4VJ7gk3Hgg6Q5nMBcd0s1A1OATpI/edit?usp=sharing
- 📝 **Staff application:** https://forms.gle/zVjSr9Tf9bYeWaNp7
- 💬 **Discord:** https://discord.gg/fwhMQCAREf
Questions about anything above? Drop them in our Discord for the Apex Legends Title Manager (llo_0py) or ask below — happy to clarify anything from this post too.
Enjoy the rest of your summer, we can't wait to get everyone back in the Dropship! 🚀