MANILA, Philippines -- Defending champion Lyceum of the Philippines University battles runner-up San Sebastian College-Recoletos to open the highly-anticipated Season 2 of the Collegiate Center for Esports (CEE) on November 4.

The Pirates and the Golden Stags meet at 6:30 p.m. with Lyceum seeking to keep mastery of their rivals after a 2-0 win in the Season 1 grand finals of CCE, where they ruled the newest esports league in the collegiate ranks.

Lyceum will march to the Land of Dawn parading an intact core bannered by Season 1 MVP Mark Kenneth Delos Reyes, who's also a student in the country's trailblazing esports academic program.

Skipper Paul Adrienne Huang, Ralph Joshua Araz, Remarch Eusebio, Merlin Lintan, Janouel Louie Lomerio and Marc Joseph Balcita are also in the fray for the Pirates in their back-to-back CCE title bid in the tourney.

With Lyceum also ruling the Varsity Cup prior to Season 1 as CCE's launching event, all eyes are on the Intramuros-based squad for a potential title repeat.

They expect heavy resistance from the Golden Stags, who have revenge on their mind in Season 2. They have already beaten Lyceum once this year, claiming a 2-0 semifinal sweep of the Pirates in the ML Pro Series (MPS) Sea Campus Invitational Summer 2022 backed by CCE earlier this month.

Made up of an equally solid core from Season 1 with Antonio Abcede, Ceron Ken, Paul Moralita, Glenyl Talandron, Michael Luis Gracia and Miguel Diaz, San Sebastian is a cinch for a deep playoff run with an end goal of going all the way this time.

In other games, University of Perpetual Help clashes with De La Salle-College of St. Benilde at 7 p.m. followed by the duels of San Beda University vs Arellano University at 7:30 p.m. and Jose Rizal University vs Colegio de San Juan de Letran at 8 p.m.

Capping off the opening week is the battle of Emilio Aguinaldo College and Mapua University at 8:30 p.m.

The CCE, led by commissioner Waiyip Chong and president Stanley Lao, will have a single-round eliminations until November 27 before the playoffs among the top eight squads fire off in early December.

Watch all the action at https://www.facebook.com/collegiatecenterforesports