FINALLY: EA Sports NCAA Football Is Coming Back Next Summer, Game Will Have The Players Real Names And Likeness

Finally, it seems to be official. We've waited too long to have NCAA Football back in our lives. We've heard it was coming back the moment NIL became a thing but then got pushed back to 2024. Now it seems to be official and we'll get to play with actual players. Their real names, what they actually look like, etc. 

[Source] - An EA Sports representative confirmed to ESPN on Wednesday that it has contracted with OneTeam Partners to "facilitate collegiate athletes' names and likenesses" into the game, solving one of the major questions about college football's return to the video game space.

If a player does not want to be in the game, EA Sports would create a generic avatar and player in that athlete's place.

For participating players, it is possible a face scan of their likenesses could be in the game, the representative said, though not every athlete will receive a face scan because there are thousands of FBS players across the country. The representative said more than 120 FBS schools have committed to being in the game -- along with all 10 FBS conferences and the College Football Playoff -- with the goal remaining to have every FBS school in the game.

I saw a report that it'd be about $500 per player to be in the game. Fine. Pay them all. Go get your $500 so you can be in the video game because there's nothing cooler than playing with yourself as you sit around a college house. But everything here sounds like it should. Get every team involved, I don't know why they wouldn't. Honestly it would be a bad look to be one of the few teams that refuse to participate. 

Just focusing on NCAA Football here they need to set something up where we can play with all the players we missed out on from the Denard Robinson cover to the new game. I'm talking guys like Kyler Murray, DeVonta Smith, Baker Mayfield, Tua, Lamar Jackson, Benny Snell (okay, that one is just for me) and Joe Burrow. Shit imagine being able to play that LSU offense or Georgia's defense a couple years ago. 

I can't wait to play this game again though. It might be the most bought game of all time strictly because we all missed it so much. You get to set up the dynasty mode, you get to recruit, you get to make your team a powerhouse. Maybe you start at a random small school and try to win a title. Either way, it's the game that we've screamed about for 10 years. I'm not even lying when I talk about the expectations for this game or hype that will be around it. I grew up in a time where you'd wait for a midnight release or have to run down to the nearest store to buy something. This is the most excited I've been for a game in a long time. 

PS: This better mean they are bringing back college basketball too. We need a good college basketball game badly. I still argue that FOX College Hoops 99 on N64 is the best college basketball video game. But let me have that too.