EA Sports College Football, also known as the NCAA franchise, was a staple for EA Sports that ran for 20 years spanning from 1993 to 2013.
So why did it stop you may ask?
Well, EA didn’t just pack its bags and ditch the series altogether. Behind every cancellation of something, there is always more to the story.
In 2013 a lawsuit was charged to EA surrounding name, image, and likeness rights to the players without any compensation in return.
From petitions to screaming fans on social media for a demand for a return of the game since its final release, its hiatus did not go unnoticed, especially as more years went by with no sign of a new game in sight.
With the passing of the NIL laws back in 2021, it was only a matter of time until a new installment of the College Football franchise was announced.
THE TIMELINE
At 11:49 a.m. on February 2, 2021, the moment finally came.
In a post on what was then Twitter, the EASPORTSCollege account posted a tweet featuring just six words:
“For those who never stopped believing…”
After over a year of radio silence, Electronic Arts VP Daryl Holt sat down with ESPN’s Michael Rothstein to talk shop on the game, giving the public their first look into what was to come in November of 2022.
This was the first time the timeline of “Summer 2024” was given, and it also featured the return of the game’s two most popular modes: ‘Dynasty,’ which allows the user to create and control a coach and help a program reach the highest highs of college football through recruiting and managing your team, and ‘Road to Glory,” which is similar to Madden’s ‘Face of the Franchise’ where the user can create a player and compete for national championships and individual awards, such as the Heisman Memorial Trophy, given to the best player in college football for the season.
After another year of more speculation and nothing official, the first real teaser trailer was released via X (Twitter) in February of 2024, showing off jersey graphics as well as which iconic traditions were to be included at the game’s release, such as Notre Dame’s “Play Like a Champion Today” sign, Florida’s gator head, Penn State’s gate, and more.
The teaser announced that a full reveal would be coming in May, while later that day teams, players, and media personalities were able to announce whether or not they would be ‘In The Game,’ including Kirk Herbstreit, Rece Davis, Desmond Howard, and all 134 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) schools.
Staying true to their word, on May 16, EA released the Standard and Deluxe Edition covers, featuring University of Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers, University of Colorado wide receiver/defensive back Travis Hunter and University of Michigan running back Donovan Edwards.
The next day came the full reveal, which showed off graphics, animations, and more pregame traditions.
Two weeks later, a gameplay deep dive was released, showing off mechanics, and the brand new ‘Campus IQ’ technology, which features player wear and tear, player abilities (similar to Madden’s Superstar and X-Factor abilities), and Home Field Advantage, which is exactly how it sounds, as well as unique playbooks for each team.
On June 25, a ‘Sights and Sounds’ deep-dive was released, featuring more gameday traditions, including Howard’s Rock from Clemson, Colorado and Washington leading the teams out with animals, and Ohio State’s iconic ‘Script Ohio.’
EA says that the game was developed with the philosophy that every team is somebody’s favorite, bringing a sense of personality to the game.
Finally, this brings us to July 2, the most recent update on the game from EA Sports came with a deep-dive on Dynasty Mode, featuring the ins and outs of recruiting and the new-to-the-game transfer portal.
BREAKING IT DOWN – DYNASTY
Starting with Dynasty Mode, the game features both online and single-player dynasty modes, where you can either play with up to 32 people for up to 30 years or dominate college football by yourself.
The transfer portal received a major overhaul from its NCAA 14 counterpart.
Starting at the beginning of the season, the user can see an overview of their team, showing which positions are positions of need or where the team could use a talent upgrade. The game generates 3500 high schoolers for the user to recruit, featuring some real-life recruiting hotbeds, like South Florida and Atlanta.
To add a level of challenge, recruits will decide on your school based on 14 benchmarks, ranging from academic prestige to stadium atmosphere, graded on a letter-grade scale. The game also includes ‘deal breakers’ for each recruit, meaning if a certain criteria does not meet a minimum threshold, the recruit will lock the user out from recruiting them.
These deal breakers also rear their head in the new transfer portal, making it more likely that a player jumps into the transfer portal if a need is not met.
There’s also more strategy to recruiting as opposed to NCAA 14 – with the aforementioned benchmarks and deal breakers which are more negative, there is also a positive. In the last game, you could invite recruits to visit during a game. Now, it appears that there is a buff when you pair premier positions together, i.e., invite a QB and WR to the same game.
Also in Dynasty, and the news, you can re-align the conferences in the game. If you miss the PAC-12, you can revert to what once was just last year. You can recreate the old Big East with Boston College, Rutgers, etc.
As a coach, you can fully customize every aspect of your coach. Offensive and defensive playbooks, appearance, and you can even choose to start as a coordinator and work your way up, or to just start as a head coach.
There are three archetypes for your coach: motivator, recruiter, and tactician.
As a motivator, you give players ratings boosts and help them play better. As a recruiter, you can scout recruits and transfers faster. Finally, as a tactician, you can boost your player’s ratings on gameday.
You can upgrade your coach’s abilities through the ability tree, and shape the kind of coach you want to be.
BREAKING IT DOWN – ROAD TO GLORY
An immersion masterclass from EA, this game mode starts you out choosing what type of prospect you want to be at your position. The game presents you with four ‘archetypes;’ Elite, which starts you out at a 79 overall and a five-star prospect, blue chip starts you at 75 overall (four-star), Contributor makes you a 70 overall (three-star), and finally the underdog, rightfully advertised by Kent State wide receiver Chrishon McCray, which starts the player off as a 67 overall and a two-star prospect.
Unlike the last rendition of the college football games, CFB25’s Road to Glory (RTG) does not start the player out in high school. After you choose your player’s journey, position, playstyle, and abilities, you will be prompted by a reporter to ask questions that will determine which schools have an interest in you based on how your ideas align.
The immersion continues when you get to your school. Every week, the player will have a limited amount of time points to divvy up between academics (players must maintain above a 2.0 GPA threshold to stay eligible), leadership (improve trust with coaches and teammates), health (self-explanatory), training (helps improve physical attributes), and your brand (increase popularity and open the door for NIL benefits).
The game even features midterm exams in Weeks eight and 15 that can and will heavily deflate your GPA if you do poorly.
Leadership helps the player and the team gain more experience points and coach trust, which can influence your spot on the depth chart. High enough leadership unlocks the ‘Clearheaded’ ability, which protects from composure loss during games.
Keeping track of your player’s health is as important as anything else, as the wear and tear from each game pile up and can regress certain abilities, or even lead to the player getting benched until the injury has healed.
Training earns players XP to upgrade their abilities via skill points, similar to Madden. The more you train the more XP you earn, but simultaneously your player incurs wear and tear.
Finally, brand is how players will unlock Name, Image, and Likeness slots which can improve a player’s on-field attributes, or have impacts off the field, like followers, and coach trust, and it can even boost your health.
BREAKING IT DOWN – ABILITIES
New to the college football video game franchise, but similar to ‘Superstar abilities’ from Madden, the introduction of abilities into the game adds to the immersion of both Road to Glory and Dynasty modes.
These new abilities are split up into mental and physical abilities, and each ability has different tiers that can be leveled up, similar to badges in the NBA2K game franchise. Players are limited to only eight abilities at any given time: five physical and three mental.
There are 80 abilities in the game, but until release, we only know what 17 of them do.
- 50/50: Improves jump ball ability
- Ballhawk: Improved break on throw ability
- Best Friend: QB composure gain on first down catch
- Clear Headed: Protection from composure loss
- Clutch Kicker: Easier accuracy timing on late-game field goals
- Double Dip: Improved double move routes
- Fan Favorite: Improved composure gains at home
- Field General: Assists in identifying blitzes and disguised coverages pre-snap
- Grip Breaker: Bolster’s a defender’s capability to disengage from a block
- Layout: Improved dive catches
- Option King: Improved accuracy on pitches and Wear and Tear protection on option plays
- Pocket Shield: Progressively makes offensive linemen hold blocks better on standard pass plays
- Recoup: Improved fatigue recovery
- Side Step: Improved fakeouts on juke moves
- Sure Hands: Improved standard catches
- Workhorse: Improved protection from Wear and Tear
THE BG CONNECTION
The world received its first look at Doyt Perry Stadium and the Bowling Green team in the game thanks to YouTuber ‘UserLurkk’, who posted a video of him scoring a 36-yard touchdown with BGSU running back Terion Stewart. The video also gave one of the first looks of the Falcons’ new uniforms.
The big talk in the game’s community was about how realistic each stadium was going to be. Electronic Arts sent out representatives to each school to take photos from every angle possible, and in the video, it appears the work paid off. From the balconies of the Sebo Center to the Home2 and Hampton Inn across the street from the stadium, the only things missing appear to be the Speedway and Fricker’s signs illuminating the night sky.
PLAYERS REACTION
As mentioned earlier, the game ultimately stopped due to players suing EA for using their names with no compensation. With this game, however, it’s the complete opposite. If you opt to be in the game you will be receiving a free copy of the game and $600.
Players at a school like Bowling Green can benefit so much from this and it is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Senior inside linebacker Brock Horne expresses how much this opportunity means to him.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime deal. Not all of us can go on and play in the NFL so Madden would be really cool but that opportunity is obviously very slim and even more slim than the opportunity to be in this game so I think it’s just an awesome opportunity”
Transfer outside linebacker from San Jose State Justin Eklund mentions how it felt like it was a no-brainer and would feel like a disservice if you turned down the opportunity.
“Just feels like you’d be doing a disservice to yourself as an athlete if you had the opportunity to be in a game and you’re not. You should be taking advantage of this to put your name and brand out there more.”
Senior quarterback Camden Orth said it’s a dream come true as he grew up playing the game, and to now say he’s a part of it is a surreal feeling for him.
“It’s kind of a dream come true. Growing up my brother and I would always play the Heisman mode and Road to Glory and see those guys and be like ‘Wow that’s crazy they’re in a video game’ and now being able to be in the game is just surreal.”
When opting to be in the game, these players will be a part of history as CFB 25 will be the first game to have actual players in the game along with being in the first game that brought this franchise back to life.
But the money and a free copy were never the reasons why these players wanted to be in the game. But to be a part of a legacy was.
“Just growing up playing the game and just wanting to say when I’m older and have kids that I was able to be in that game and be a part of a legacy that’s finally coming back,” said Orth.
Horne said much of the same.
“If they would have just told us we would get a free copy; they could have given me $5 and I would have been happy. We all know they’re making a ton of money using our name but who cares? The fact that you’re in a video game is just awesome.”
If you had the privilege to own a copy of NCAA 14, you probably played it for hours on end for the previous 11 years. Many people are posting online their favorite clips and “instant classics” from NCAA 14 to show the game how much we truly loved it and to show how much of an impact it had for college football fans like myself.
But on July 15th at 4 p.m., NCAA 14 can finally rest as a new set of memories are on the horizon with CFB 25.
For more stories related to BGSU Athletics, follow Falcon Media Sports Network on X (@bg_fmsn).
