People of Las Vegas, get ready for a Mountain West Conference Showdown. No, it’s not what you’re thinking. For the first time ever, during the same week as the Mountain West Basketball tournament, UNLV’s 8-Bit and Boise State Esports are battling it out in an epic three game competition dubbed, “The Mountain West Esports Showdown”. March 8th-10th, they will be competing in League of Legends, Rocket League, and Overwatch . While many will be getting ready for March Madness around this time, this is one event where gamers and esports will be getting their much deserved attention.
About 8-Bit
For those of you who don’t know, 8-Bit was founded in 2012 at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV), and competes in five game titles including League of Legends, Rocket League, and Overwatch. They are officially recognized in the Riot Games Collegiate Program and a partner in the TeSPA network. Some of the members have even gone on to compete professionally. You can follow 8-Bit on Twitch or by coming to their events on the UNLV campus.
What This Means For Esports at UNLV
This is a huge honor for 8-bit and UNLV esports as the conference chose them and Boise State to represent the Mountain West Conference. An article at the UNLV News Center states that,
“The schools were selected by the conference to participate in the inaugural MW esports Showdown based upon their current organization and development of their esports programs, as well as enthusiastic support from the presidents of each institution.”
It is clear by this response that UNLV is in full support of esports as a competitive event, much like that of Basketball and Football. The School even has an official esports program, which combines the art, science, and business of esports.
The University president seems to recognize the importance of esports going into the future and the hopeful prospect of making Las Vegas the esports capital of the world. In fact, UNLV is a founding member of the Nevada Esports Alliance (NVEA) which solidifies the University’s involvement in making Las Vegas an esports hub for the world. For more on the NVEA, check out this article written back in February of last year.
Details of the Match
I hope everyone is ready for what should be an exciting battle at UNLV, March 8-10th. Each team will consist of up to 15 participants competing in the Thomas and Mack Cox Pavilion on March 8th and 9th with the final event being announced shortly in the next couple of weeks. They will be broadcasted live on the Mountain West eSports Twitch page. Times are TBA, so everyone show up and support UNLV and 8-Bit. And if for some reason you have to support Boise State Esports, here is the Twitch page for them as well. Let’s go 8-Bit!