5 features we hope are included in the new EA Sports College Football game
By Zach Bigalke
4. Include historic teams and players in the game
Past EA Sports titles have included historic players and teams in the past. Unfortunately, that is a major reason why the NCAA Football series shut down in the first place. When former UCLA basketball player Ed O'Bannon encountered his virtual likeness while playing NCAA Basketball 09, it kicked off the court case that led EA Sports to shutter its college titles and stick to pro sports for more than a decade.
This one might still be a challenge, for while it is relatively easy to track down a group of current college football players to sign over NIL rights for the game, it isn't always as easy to get those rights from past players. But it would be well worth the trouble for EA to make that effort and collaborate with former football players to render classic teams into the new game.
Imagine if you could pit some of Alabama's greatest teams against the best from Pete Carroll's USC dynasty, or one of Bobby Bowden's championship teams at Florida State, or the Nebraska juggernaut that dominated the mid-1990s. Coming full circle and reintroducing historic teams—and doing it the right way this time, with buy-in from those legendary players of the past—would add another layer of value to this long-awaited release.