The CSL began with a simple idea in mind - weekly, collegiate team-based competition between players of all skill levels, leading up to a final showdown between the best of the best. Since 2009, the number of teams participating has grown rapidly, from 26 in its first season of Brood War, to an astonishing 144 after the release of SC2. How would things change with the advent of a new game and a level playing field? How many teams would have the stamina and the fortitude to survive an excruciating season of over 17 weeks of divisional play, let alone a 32-team bracket for playoffs? Would the old BW giants like Waterloo and Duke give way to fresh upstarts?

If there was anything to be learned from previous seasons of CSL, it would be never to underestimate ANY team, as there are plenty of opportunities for . In Season two, we saw Princeton's diligent preparation took them all the way to the Ro4, and Waterloo shoot up from a relative unknown to the upper echelons of collegiate talent. In Season three, we saw Ottawa make a surprising bid for glory in the playoffs, as well the furious determination that brought UCSD through the Grand Finals against Duke.

And so it might be as well for this season, if divisional play is anything to go by.

THE RISE AND FALL

Overall, we saw many of the same giants of Brood War - Waterloo, the eternal rivals UC Irvine and UCSD, veterans Georgia Tech, Rutgers and Toronto. Some teams were quite rejuvenated by SC2's release - schools like UMD College Park, Oberlin, Case Western had been participating for a while, and with a new playing field and fresh blood, they made some incredible bids. For one, UMDCP had always trailed last in their division in previous years, but with the infusion of players like Wonderbread and Redds, they were able to snag first seed to playoffs, but unfortunately had to drop out due to other issues. And, of course, Tufts barely missed playoffs for the 3rd year in a row, much to the chagrin of their graduating coordinator.

Notable schools missing from the rosters - Princeton, USC (you'd expect Day9's home school to have done well, but alas), MIT, Harvey Mudd, Duke, Berkeley... In reality, the list doesn't go much longer, but whether from lack of time or lack of talented players dedicated to the CSL, these familiar faces didn't make to playoffs. Instead, we have schools like Central Florida or Houston, home to notable SC2 players like VTWhiplash and xiExo respectively. With all of the new talent in play, it makes for some very difficult playoff predictions.

BURNING SPIRIT

The first week of the Ro32 began with a familiar matchup - Waterloo versus UIUC. Though the teams had never met formally during any previous CSL season, they were both veterans, and thus both quite sure about the other's capabilities. I'm sure that going into it, UIUC was quite aware that it would be an uphill fight, but even so they lost without taking a single game. The second match of was just as heated, and even more dramatic. While the match between Texas A&M and McMaster was no simple walkover for either side, it was AFTER the conclusion of the match when things started to heat up. After conducting an investigation and consulting outside sources, CSL administrators concluded that there was cheating going on during the ACE match on McMaster's side, and thus were forced to disqualify McMaster.

Day 2's matches were, in comparison, quite boring. Dalhousie rolled through Rice (their one loss being from the 2v2), while UC Riverside took out Florida handily in a series of all-mirrors. It would take another day and a bit before the games got interesting again. While McGill took out Colorado quite comfortably in their match, the contest between Central Florida and Wilfrid Laurier was a rollercoaster of emotions. UCF showcased some strong play - NeVerBeeN's JulyZerg-esque aggressive style and VTWhiplash's solid 4-gate mechanics won UCF the first two sets, but Wilfrid Laurier was able to turn things around in sets 3 and 4 by exploiting their opponents' builds. It came down to the ACE match - and what better way to play a high-stakes game by upping the ante with a PvP? WLU's xSixAzide took a huge gamble on a cannon rush against VTWhiplash, but in the end, his risky play only rewarded the better mechanics and game-sense of UCF's VTWhiplash.

The last day of the Red Conference was much less a contest between teams, but a contest of champions. A dark horse and relative unknown during divisional play, NYU came in with something to prove. While the teams traded wins like Pokemon cards in the first few sets, it soon became apparent that Houston's xiExo was a force to be reckoned with. With astonishing control and an airtight defense, XiExo was easily able to put down NYU's goober in Set 4, and shrugged off Railgun's one-base aggression in Set 5 to take the win for Houston. On the other side of the night was UMBC versus Pittsburgh - two relative newcomers to CSL. UMBC took an early lead in the first two sets, but as 2v2 is the pivotal match in the CSL format, it immediately became a problem as soon as Pittsburgh took Set 3 and 4 in succession, with UMBC's Cyrain failing to perform in both sets. In the end, it came down to UMBC's Nerzhul to save the day for their team against none-other than his Set 1 opponent, Saer.

THE OLD GUARD

While the Red conference showcased talent from the newer schools in CSL, the Blue conference was rife with matches featuring CSL veterans. Those schools took their matches with relative ease against rookie teams - Toronto easily 3-0'd Hawaii, with a rogue appearance by TSL1 winner iefnaiJ, and Irvine won 3-1, dropping only the 2v2 in their match. In matches between the veterans themselves, Rutgers' 3-1 of Western Ontario was not unexpected; most impressive, though, was UCSD's 3-0 of Georgia Tech on Day 1 - as expected from the CSL Season 3 champions. It was rumored that the GATech Zerg and former progamer MasterAsia had expressed his condolences to Xeris for having to take out his alma mater in the first round. The author can only wonder now if he's eating those words.

In the meantime, Indiana rolled through their opponents Grant McEwan - after all, what do you expect from a team with two vVv members and a VT member? - while UBC crushed UC Davis even without the help of their very own NOVA.Stalife. As it remains, the only two close matches of all of the Blue Conference teams were between RPI and Stanford, and Texas Arlington and CalTech.

While RPI was able to take the first set, their second set player Elvishpie's 3-gate void ray aggression backfired on him when he failed to break his Terran opponent's wall-off. The 2v2 didn't go much better for RPI team, despite going for identical strategies as the Stanford team - it purely came down to unit control, and RPI's was lacking. RPI's tGensulitor managed to pull things together in the next game, ending Set 4 with an early Marine/Marauder timing attack against his Protoss opponent SituatioN - and subsequently found himself playing a rematch. In the ACE, SituatioN opted for a 1-base Colossus timing attack, engaging in a desperate fight for both sides. While SituatioN does manage to push the Terran all the way back to his natural expansion, tGensulitor manages to hold, and his superior economy allows his subsequent counterattack to win him the game.

CalTech vs. Texas Arlington was a match between a CSL veteran team (albeit, not a very successful one) and a promising newcomer. A back and forth series, it was one of the most exciting to watch yet. While CalTech's team doesn't have a particularly deep lineup, they do have some of the best Starcraft minds around, with oGsHiren and Saracen both spearheading the team. In particular, oGsHiren had some particularly inspired play, with Set 1 featuring the iEchoic Hellion/Banshee/Viking strategy in TvT, and in the ACE match where he went for a mass Orbital strategy against the Arlington Zerg Inure. While CalTech wasn't able to bring back the win, they brought to CSL some of the most interesting and entertaining matches in SC2 thus far.

WHAT COMES AFTER

As the Ro16 approaches (tomorrow, in fact!), what can we come to expect from these games? Will Waterloo destroy Texas A&M on its way back to the top? Does rookie Indiana have what it takes to edge out UCSD? As veterans begin falling to the younger upstarts, who can tell who will end up on top at the end of the season? Stay tuned this week to watch the Ro16, with guest casters Incontrol and Gretorp!