Baker College’s esports team, The Swarm, delivered an electrifying Spring 2025 regular season, proving once again why they are a force to be reckoned with. Competing in the National Esports Collegiate Conference (NECC), Playfly College Esports, and College Valorant (CVAL) competitions, they finished with an impressive 20-4 regular season record.
Their Collegiate Esports Commissioner’s Cup journey was just as thrilling—starting as the #2 seed in the LCQ bracket, The Swarm stormed through tough competition, taking down UCLA, Concordia-St. Paul, and Missouri Baptist before a hard-fought showdown against Siena Heights University. After a nail-biting series, Baker dominated in the final map to punch their ticket to one of the biggest collegiate LAN events of the year—the CECC Finals!
CVAL:
The Swarm kicked off their Spring 2025 College Valorant (CVAL) season in late January, competing in the highly competitive North Championship Division. With only five teams in each region earning a National Championship bid, Baker faced some of the toughest teams in the country but entered the season as the #2 seed, ready for the challenge.
After securing early wins against St. Cloud State and Wisconsin-Stout, The Swarm faced their first setback against the University of Akron. A close loss to Western Kentucky made their final Swiss round a must-win, and they delivered, defeating the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy to clinch a playoff spot.
In the Championship Division playoffs, Baker was re-seeded at #8, setting up a tough first-round matchup against #1 seed Maryville University. Despite a hard-fought battle, The Swarm fell into the lower bracket, where they bounced back with dominant victories over Purdue, Concordia-St. Paul, and the University of Missouri—securing their ticket to the National Championship in April. Their playoff run ended in the Lower Semifinals against Missouri Baptist, earning them an impressive 4th place finish in the North Championship Division.
NECC:
After securing the Division 2 championship in the fall, The Swarm earned a promotion to Division 1, competing among the top 16 teams in the national conference this spring. They came out strong with three consecutive wins against UC-San Diego, Conestoga College, and Northwood University before narrowly falling to Concordia-St. Paul. That defeat, however, would be their only one of the season. The Swarm bounced back with victories over Converse University, Oklahoma Christian, and Maryland, finishing the regular season at the top of their group with a 6-1 record and securing the #1 seed for playoffs.
In addition to the NECC Division 1 playoffs, the top performing teams across both semesters have the opportunity to compete in Nationals, which eventually leads to a LAN competition in San Antonio. The Swarm is in great position to perform well in the Division 1 playoffs, as well as fight for the opportunity to qualify for the Nationals LAN.
Playfly:
For the second straight semester, The Swarm dominated the Open Premier Division of Playfly College Esports, once again going undefeated in regular season play. They secured victories over UBC-Okanagan, Hesston College, Alberta, Waukesha County Tech, UC-Santa Barbara, Oregon, Cumberland, and Rutgers, proving their strength across the competition.
With a perfect 8-0 record, The Swarm enter the playoffs as the #2 seed. Making it to the championship game would also earn them a bid to Playfly’s Tournament of Champions LAN in Texas.
With momentum on their side, The Swarm is ready to have a buzzing postseason run!