After a long and agonizing eleven years between the last release of NCAA 14, countless lawsuits and NIL questions, the wait is finally over. The game took off, with over 500,000 players online at the same time on the first day of early release, two days before it was available to the general public.
EA Sports delivered a love letter to the game and the sport of college football, paying homage to the 134 FBS schools that make the sport what it is. They added individual school traditions like the Kinnick wave, multiple fight songs, and dynamic calls that build the mood, along with individual players with special traits and a dynamic overall system.
Fans, however, were most excited about the return of dynasty mode where they can take control of a team as a coordinator or coach. Many fans like to play at a small school and lead them to victory, and this year’s 12-team playoff format allows them the opportunity to get into the playoffs and achieve relevance much faster than before.
The game also involves recruiting and scouting decisions along with the new transfer portal and is much more dynamic and in-depth from season to season than ever before. With that being said, there are certain schools in dynasty mode that make the game more fun.
1. Your Local School or Alma Mater
No matter where players come from, many dreamt about leading their favorite team to a title, whether it be the one they rooted for as a kid, their alma mater, or even their local university that struggles on the football field. Dynasty mode allows players to do just that and its realism in the coaching process has brought a lot of eyes to college football. EA spared no detail when designing each school’s stadium, so there is something for everyone no matter the size of the school they support. With the expanded playoff in the game, people can take schools like Kennesaw State to new heights, even if they became FBS programs just a few years ago.
2. Georgia
If the goal is to start out on top, there is no better pick than the University of Georgia. The school won back-to-back national titles in 2021 and 2022 and were one win away from returning to the College Football Playoff in 2023, and they enter the 2024-2025 season the favorites in the new era of football. The game’s number-one quarterback Carson Beck (93 overall) leads a fearsome offense with Florida transfer running back Trevor Etienne and 91 overall Oscar Delp, hailed by some as the next game-breaking tight end after Brock Bowers joined the Raiders in the NFL Draft. They also have the number one guard Tate Ratledge as well as the number four left guard, sophomore Dylan Fairchild.
Georgia’s defense also boasts 95-overall Malakai Starks, the best safety in the country and a consensus first-team All-American who has 93 speed and 93 awareness. Number one-ranked left outside linebacker Mykel Williams should also make a big splash in the game as he is one of the most well-rounded players in the game and is extremely athletic for the position. In any event, playing with Georgia is an easy way to take your program to the top as they are sharp on both ends and have an extremely tough home environment, something that affects the other team in EA CFB.
3. Kansas
Many players use Kansas in the game as they are an up-and-coming program coming off a strong season and they are not typically a football-first program, having only made 14 bowl appearances in the team’s history. The Jayhawks defeated number-ten ranked Oklahoma in a win that made them bowl eligible for two consecutive seasons, the third time this had happened in program history. Kansas has a high-powered offense and three players in EA’s top 100. 79th-ranked Jalon Daniels looks to lead the team through a new 16-team conference behind a strong rushing attack. Devin Neal is the team’s bellwether back and the 42nd-ranked player, a speed-first back who is one of the shiftiest players in college football and makes many players miss on defense.
Leading Kansas to glory remains a tough test, but their program has the cornerstones for success on both sides of the ball. They are near a recruiting hotbed in the Midwest and play a spread offense conducive to speed and video-game play, which is why they are a favorite of players early on in the game.
4. Washington State
One of the two PAC-12 schools left is Washington State and taking them to relevancy and success is another fun way to spend a dynasty and rebuild. The school has always been an underdog dating back to the days of Mike Leach and his air raid offense. They ran the pass-first attack because they did not always have the athletes and funding to compete with bigger programs like Southern California. Now the rest of the PAC-12 shunned them due to them not being as much of a draw as the rest of the conference, despite revolutionizing the sport years earlier. Brining a title back to the tiny city of Pullman, Washington would just mean more to CFB die-hards, even if it is just in a video game.
5. Miami
The early 2000s dynasty of Miami featured players such as Ed Reed and Ray Lewis was one of bad boys and drama, and the Jimmie Johnson-led Hurricanes embraced the “Convicts” nickname of their program. Now the school in Coral Gables has fallen far from relevancy, including an embarrassing fumble loss to Georgia Tech on the last play of the game. Building a dynasty in Miami looks like a fun endeavor as south Florida is a recruiting hotbed for fast wide receivers and defensive backs to center a team around and has a storied history sure to get players to buy into.
As for today, Miami lost its best defensive back in Tyriqhe Stevenson, a Georgia transfer who should make an early impact at the NFL level, and so their strengths lie in offense, with two of their players winding up in the top 100. 91-overall Damien Martinez is a well-rounded back that looks to run behind a strong offensive line and set up the play action for quarterback Tyler van Dyke. With some work in the game, Miami could become a real threat.
6. Fresno State
The alma mater of gritty quarterbacks like Derek Carr and Jake Haener, the Bulldogs are too small of a school to succeed in the modern NIL-driven era of college football. However, the 12-team playoff gives them an outside shot. Fresno State is a hard-nosed school in a conference that has not seen much success in the sport outside of Boise State, and so taking them to a championship is the college football fan’s dream. They do not have any players in the top 100, but they are led by running back Malik Sherrod, who has 172 carries for 966 yards in his career.
They have the talent and eclectic environment to knock off anyone at home, especially behind the veteran arm of Mikey Keene with 24 touchdowns to his credit so far. Fresno State may not be a huge powerhouse in the game, but with time, anyone can take them to titles.
7. Appalachian State
The highest-rated team in the Sun Belt plays in one of the prettiest stadiums in the country, and EA did it justice by rendering it in all of its glory. While that should be enough to get players on board with the school, its underdog nature could also bring players in. They play in a weak conference, only having been an FBS school since 2013 but often play buy games with other schools and have major upset potential for this reason. For example, the Mountaineers stunned number-five ranked Michigan in Ann Arbor as an FCS school 34-32, cementing their legacy as a thorn in the side of ranked teams no matter the circumstance. As pundits expect them to run the table in their conference, they could be a fun pick to take to the top of college football for the first time.
8. UCONN
The independent Huskies have been terrible for a long time, often occupying a spot on Ryan McGee’s humorous list of “Bottom 10” schools. While they boast basketball success, including a blowout national championship win last year, the Huskies have struggled to find it on the football field as one of three independent teams. However, UConn did turn a near winless season (their only 2021 win came against Yale) into a 6-6 season in 2022, including an upset of no. 19 Liberty. Their most recent year was lackluster as the only won three games against Sacred Heart, UMass, and Rice.
The lack of success combined with an underdog nature makes UConn an attractive pick to rebuild in a dynasty. After all, taking a program from the depths of despair to virtual glory is something all EA CFB players strive for.
The game has all 133 FBS teams and so players are picking all sorts of schools to build up and sustain programs once they put on the headset. The game sold in an unprecedented run in the past few weeks, shattering expectations by hundreds of millions of dollars. It is safe to say that everyone has found a dynasty team to enjoy.
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