OU ECCI’s League of Legends esports team attended an invitational tournament from Oct. 17- 18 at Mizzou in Columbia, Missouri. The second time the in-person regional event has been held. The two-day event hosted 13 schools across the region and is not affiliated with any esports organization.
The tournament, established in 2025, marks the attempt to establish a new tradition for collegiate esports. The explosion of the professional esports scene surrounding League of Legends has propelled the business forward exponentially.
Brandon “PenguinArchitect” White started as a collegiate player for League of Legends at OU in 2020. Today, White has been coaching the LoL team for five years, experiencing how fast collegiate esports evolved over the years.
“Seeing the progression from when I was a player and it’s like we’ve got this room with five PC’s in it… It’s honestly kind of wild to see that transition in six years with the venue at OU.”
Like OU, Mizzou has been one of the few universities pioneering the field of collegiate esports. Since the Mizzou League of Legends Invitational started in Spring 2025, OU has been one of its original participating members. LAN tournaments have been a staple of gaming since the 90s and have remained a core experience for esports as a whole. However, these in-person events can be expensive and reserved for the professional scene.
Colin Graham, the esports coordinator at Mizzou, said, “We’re also providing that opportunity to teams that are not your top 0.1% competitive player base. There are these teams that may never get a LAN shot otherwise.”
While both OU and Mizzou are enrolled in the NECC league, LANs are reserved for the national event at the end of the season. Graham went on to emphasize that schools across the country are still growing and legitimizing their organizations in the eyes of the college. Events like this are not just a way to generate revenue, but also offer a way to demonstrate that there’s general interest and offer a LAN experience for students of SEC schools.
“I mean, it’s all about the students,” Graham said. “It’s about the next wave of those that are going to come after us… students are the most enthusiastic and passionate people you’ll run into.”
With a focus on hands-on experience, these opportunities offer practical and real-world knowledge for players and production staff. White adds, “It seems like there’s a massive mentality shift from playing separately to driving eight hours to a different university… It followed the team back for the rest of the semesters.”
Moving forward, Graham has maintained an open invitation to OU and an eagerness to visit OU for any future events held.
“Oklahoma will always have an open invite to every single one of our invitationals. I love having them here. It’s also a bit of an olive branch, and let’s collaborate. Let’s do more stuff because we want you to be here, and we’d love to come down there.”
