Tag: basketball

Quinn Ewers, Travis Hunter, and Donovan Edwards

After eleven long years, the game we love, the game we looked forward to every July, the game we played from dusk to dawn, is finally returning.

That’s right, EA Sports College Football 25 is releasing July 19 and it looks to be the best one yet.

The reveal trailer dropped yesterday (surprised the site didn’t crash) and if you haven’t watched it yet, shame on you!

Now, if you’re asking yourself, ” When did they stop making the game and why?”, allow me to explain.

First question– The last game was NCAA Football 14. This is the game with Denard Robinson(Michigan Wolverine QB) on the cover. The game was released on July 9, 2013. With every new iteration, EA always implements new features and this game had it:

Acceleration burst, new combo moves, Nike Skills Trainer, and Ultimate Team just to name a few.

The game got an OK score from most game review sites (Gamespot, IGN) stating the game had great gameplay but most critics were not impressed with the visuals, saying the game was due for a graphical upgrade, which everyone was very well aware of. Regardless of the reviews, the game was a commercial success, selling over a million copies.

Second question– Why so long of a wait? EA Sports stopped producing the game because of a lawsuit that stemmed from former UCLA basketball player, Ed O’ Bannon. You can click this link which will take you to an article by a great journalist, Creg Stephenson from AL.com for the full report but the meat and potatoes of the lawsuit were this- Ed O’Bannon, who was representing both NCAA Division 1 football and men’s basketball players, challenged EA Sports use of the images and likeness of its former student-athletes for “commercial purposes”. In other words, the players were upset EA Sports didn’t compensate them for using their name and likeness in their football games.

The end result was a 60 million dollar settlement where more than 24,000 former college basketball and football players were given a payout of around 1600 dollars. The lawsuit covers games produced from 2003- the last year, 2013.

So, from 2014- 2023, we had no college football games whatsoever.

Thankfully, during this dry season, there were some unsung heroes who to this day have kept NCAA 14 up to date.

Meet the superheroes at Operation Sports. This company has literally updated every single FBS and FCS team roster in NCAA 14 every year so that gamers like ourselves can continue to play NCAA college football with an updated roster.

But that was then, and this is now. We get to have our cake and eat it too.

In June 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the NCAA in a compensation battle with student-athletes. The court gave a unanimous win to Division 1 college athletes in their fight against the NCAA over caps it sought to impose on compensation related to education. However, the biggest winner that day was you and me.

In February, EA dropped a little teaser that they have been working on a new game but the teaser didn’t reveal much other than a “full reveal” would come in May. Well, I must say, it’s been worth the wait. The game looks amazing and I’m sure EA will be dropping new nuggets regularly up until July 19.

I don’t want to wish my Summer away but I will be counting the days for not only the season to start but for a game that’s been eleven years in the making.

Two months til kickoff. See you soon, College Football 25.

Pre-orders are live now!