EA College Sports Taking OVER!

One year ago, for many college football and video game fans, a moment you rarely get occurred, a core memory was created. EA College Football 2025 was released after over a decade-long hiatus from the video game world. A wait that lasted roughly three years from the first teaser, it was all worth it. True fans of the game, whether 25 or 45 years old will have July 2024 forever seared into the nostalgia machine that fuels positive memories.

As EA gears up to keep riding the wave, they’ve announced another college sports revival... it’s in the works: MARCH MADNESS is coming back.

Yes you heard or read that right! The college basketball game is coming, a combined men’s and women’s game is happening. While it’s not expected until 2027 or 2028, and won’t be a yearly release like the football title, this announcement proves that EA is fully back to being taken over by college sports, and I am all here for it.

Being able to run a Gonzaga dynasty is a dream come true. Now in terms of the game, this will be a bit tougher to build than football. Instead of dealing with 136 teams, you’re working with somewhere north of 330 schools that they’ll need to research. Yes, there are fewer players per team compared to football, but there are arenas, jerseys, playstyles, and more to tackle in a basketball simulation.

My early fear? That they go the old route with lots of generic “small gyms” for the lower-tier schools. For this to work, and still be 2 or 3 years away, they need to give us every school, from St. Thomas Tommies to Duke Blue Devils, with the same uniqueness and love. Since it won’t be a yearly release, that gives me hope that every program will be taken care of, and we won’t see a flood of generic schools like in the past.

One of the major reasons for College Football’s success wasn’t just the hiatus, it was also the attention to detail for all schools. EA has said many times that someone is a fan of every team, and they deserve unique and authentic representation. Hopefully, that mindset carries over into the basketball development process.

This is also a game where Ultimate Team could be electric. You could grab Larry Bird, Steve Nash, Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing, and so many more legends. Personally, I’d want to earn all the former Zags we’ve missed out on by not having a college basketball video game for nearly two decades!

There are also rumors that 2K may be involved, which would be a game-changer, being able to start your MyPlayer in college and then carry over into 2K. And with EA Sports having no recent product to build from, a partnership with 2K could be huge for the development. Potential March Madness online tournaments with your friends sounds incredible to me hands down.

For basketball fans, the wait will be long, but this announcement has given us light. I mean, as a college sports fanatic, there’s no way five years ago I would’ve believed my two favorite sports games of all time would be coming back.

Also, yes, there’s a wait, but I haven’t even mentioned...

College Football 26 drops Monday!

And already, through the sneak peeks, it’s clear the care for a good product is still alive in the creators’ room. We’re seeing a lot of changes after feedback from us players last year, including more in-depth Road to Glory, Dynasty improvements, and dynamic lighting! That last one gives a much more realistic presentation, the sun changes as your game plays out, just like when you watch on a real Saturday afternoon.

Some videos from streamers are already showing off more accurate weather and visual improvements. As more footage drops, I’m only getting more hyped about the updates. There’s way more customization, better team strategy controls, and it looks like the complete Dynasty Mode fans were asking for.

Oh...and I haven’t even mentioned (in my opinion, the big one):

CROSS-PLATFORM Online Dynasty!!!

This is going to be wild, opening the door for more battles between friends across consoles. So start working on your league rules now:

• Everyone starts with a 1-star team

• Minimum 2 seasons before switching jobs

• Load as many players into the same conferences as possible for in-season matchups!

College sports are back. Let’s keep showing love to make sure these games get better every single year.

The wait for basketball will feel like an eternity...But the light at the end of the tunnel, though dim is there.

And yes... my Gonzaga dynasty plans are already in the works.