MEWC
FMWC
TAC
EEO
March brought another set of competitions, including the Teams e-Invitational hosted by Chris McNeil from the Appalachian State University. A valued MECC Faculty Fellow, he is leading the case creation team helping us bring the correct level of difficulty for the cases to challenge students.
The Teams e-Invitational is a hybrid competition, where students participate in person at their universities under the supervision of College Ambassadors while simultaneously connecting online with teams from other institutions. Participants can choose to compete at either the Junior Varsity (JV) or Varsity level; however, only top scores from the Varsity division qualify for the MECC Team Championship Quarter-Finals.
The Teams e-Invitational allows universities to bring multiple teams.
This Friday even though it was spring break for some of the schools in United States, many turned up to compete. We had the highest number of Varsity teams – 24, and 6 Junior Varsity teams competed, representing 11 universities worldwide:
The battle case was created by MECC founder David Brown in partnership with one of the MECC’s sponsors – FICO. This case focuses on the mechanics of FICO credit scores and their impact on purchasing power for assets like cars and homes, allowing students not only use their Excel skills but also to learn more about what affects credit score calculations and how.
This year’s MECC Team Championships introduce an important update to the format – Quarter-Finals: universities may enter the Quarter-Finals with multiple teams. To be eligible, each team must include at least one pre-qualified player.
Team e-Invitationals serve as one of the qualification pathways for the MECC Team Championship Quarter-Finals in December and offer multiple opportunities to qualify throughout the season. In the Teams e-Invitationals, the top 30% of Varsity team players qualify for the MECC Team Championship Quarter-Finals in Las Vegas, allowing them to compete in December either with the same teammates or by forming new teams – provided they are still enrolled at their university at that time. For upcoming event details visit the Team e-Invitationals page.
The other pathway to qualify is through MECC Regionals happening on April 11.
Another pathway for universities to secure a Quarter-Finals spot is through school rankings. Overall student participation and activity throughout the season contribute to each university’s ranking, and the highest-ranked schools earn the right to bring a team to the Quarter-Finals. This qualification is tied to the institution rather than specific players.
From the March Teams e-Invitational, seven schools secured their Quarter-Finals spots with the following players:
As soon as the Teams e-Invitational concluded, the same cases opened for individual players as part of the Weekend Battle. What teams of three tackled collaboratively, individual competitors now faced alone.
Participation was open throughout the weekend, allowing students to choose a time that worked best for them. Players could also compete in both Junior Varsity and Varsity to compare their performance against students worldwide. All upcoming Weekend Battle schedules and times are on the Weekend Battles page.
Overall, this case was more challenging than the ones our students saw earlier in the season. Although the top player solved the case fully, a late submission earned him penalty points. JV brought a lot of great scores and one perfect score.
We hope all participants enjoyed the experience and take time to explore the post-competition versions of the cases to master concepts they didn’t quite finish during the event.
This month, competitors can also learn from video walkthroughs created by two Excel Esports players:
We hope you’ll use the time until next month to sharpen your skills and return even stronger for the April Battles.
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