EA Sports College Football 26 Predicts the 2025 Season
I pre-ordered the deluxe edition of "EA Sports College Football 26" and jumped in the second it went live.
Before even touching Road to Glory or Ultimate Team, I ran a fullDynasty Mode simulation-complete with coaching changes, transfers, and the 16-team College Football Playoff.
This is one of the very first EA CFB26 season sims you'll see online-maybe the first. And if what played out is even remotely close to what happens this fall, we're in for chaos.
In case you missed it, Alabama's Ryan Williams and Ohio State's Jeremiah Smith are featured on the cover.
Here's what the game predicts - the Heisman winner, the national champion, the Playoff field and some pretty wild postseason results.
National Champion
Penn State capped off a 15-1 season by dominating Georgia 38-14 in the national title game.
The Nittany Lions were consistent all year and knocked off Texas in the semifinal to reach the championship stage.
With an elite defense and balanced offense in the sim, Penn State looked like the most complete team from start to finish.
Heisman Winner
Zachariah Branch, who is now at Georgia, took home the Heisman Trophy after a monster season in Athens.
He finished with 1,733 receiving yards and 18 touchdowns. Other finalists included Byrum Brown from USF, Gunner Stockton from Georgia, Ryan Williams from Alabama, and Romello Brinson from SMU.
Branch's explosive playmaking gave Georgia a spark all season long.
Coach of the Year
Kirby Smart earned Coach of the Year honors after leading Georgia to a 14-2 record and a dominant semifinal win over Baylor.
The Bulldogs looked like a machine through most of the year, falling only in the title game.
16-Team Playoff Field
Penn State Georgia Oregon Texas UCLA Baylor Duke Clemson Texas Tech BYU Miami Navy
First round highlights included Navy upsetting UCLA, BYU slipping past Duke, Miami knocking off Baylor, and Texas Tech battling past Clemson.
Semifinal Results
Penn State defeated Texas 35-21 Georgia took down Baylor 30-20
Final Takeaway?
No, it's not a crystal ball. But it's the most fun simulation we've got right now, especially with FPI and other models not fully updated yet.
And based on these results? If you're a fan of Penn State or Georgia, you might want to pay attention.
Related: 5 College Football Coaches Who Could Be Fired in 2025
Related: 5 College Football Teams That Could Shock Everyone in 2025
© 2025 The Arena Group Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.
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ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Glenn Schumann says comparisons are not fair to Georgia teams of the past or present. Even so, the defensive coordinator isn't ducking the fact that the 2024 defense didn't meet the Georgia standard even while the Bulldogs won their third Southeastern Conference championship in the Kirby Smart era. Georgia's path to 11 wins, the SEC championship game victory over Texas and a spot in the College Football Playoff was filled with harrowing results by the defense. The defense produced three NFL first-round draft picks — Mykel Williams, Jalon Walker and Malaki Starks — despite giving up 41 points in a loss to Alabama and closing the regular season with a 44-42 win over Georgia Tech in eight overtimes. It's no coincidence that Georgia's back-to-back national championships in 2021 and 2022 were built on defense under Smart, a former defensive coach. Georgia led the SEC in points and yards allowed in three consecutive seasons, beginning with the 2021 team that led the nation with 10.20 points allowed per game. The proud tradition of strong defenses slipped in 2024 when the Bulldogs fell to eighth in the league with 20.57 points and 329 yards allowed per game. 'You start rationalizing stats, then you're just making excuses for a performance that wasn't up to our standard,' Schumann said last week. 'The number one thing we need to do better in run defense is tackle better. In fact, we did not tackle to our standard last year.' Georgia, No. 5 in The Associated Press preseason Top 25 poll released Monday, carries high expectations, including on defense. The belief the 2025 defense can return to its lead role may be at least partly based on the championship standard of units led by such players as Travon Walker, Jordan Davis, Eric Stokes, Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith. 'Speaking of a defense, I think it really comes down to the little things,' said linebacker CJ Allen, expected to be a leader of the unit. 'Our whole theme and this message this whole offseason for the whole team has been fire, passion, energy. Playing with fire, passion, energy, being able to affect each other means a lot. Just coming out doing the little things.' Freshman defensive lineman Elijah Griffin, one of the top signees, has an opportunity to make an immediate impact. 'EG's doing great,' Schumann said. "You always want to temper expectations on young players, but he has a maturity to him, a work ethic to him. He's obviously a big guy with a lot of athleticism. So we hope that Elijah's able to help us this year. ... He's had a good start to camp.' Linebacker Raylen Wilson and safety KJ Bolden are other leaders of the defense. Smart said he is watching the defensive line, led by junior tackle Christen Miller, as a key to the emphasis on stopping the run. 'We need him to be a playmaker,' Smart said of Miller. 'We need him to be disruptive. We talk about habit, we talk about quickness, speed, experience. He's our most experienced player. He has taken on this role of knowing the burden lies with him to set a standard for that group.' Smart said the goal of stopping the run 'starts with that group. I mean, it's everybody, but it really starts with the defensive line, and what kind of mentality that room has. And so far, he has approached that the right way.' ___
Washington Post
2 hours ago
- Washington Post
No. 5 Georgia is looking for defense to reclaim standard set by 2021-22 national championship teams
ATHENS, Ga. — Glenn Schumann says comparisons are not fair to Georgia teams of the past or present. Even so, the defensive coordinator isn't ducking the fact that the 2024 defense didn't meet the Georgia standard even while the Bulldogs won their third Southeastern Conference championship in the Kirby Smart era.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
No. 5 Georgia is looking for defense to reclaim standard set by 2021-22 national championship teams
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Glenn Schumann says comparisons are not fair to Georgia teams of the past or present. Even so, the defensive coordinator isn't ducking the fact that the 2024 defense didn't meet the Georgia standard even while the Bulldogs won their third Southeastern Conference championship in the Kirby Smart era. Georgia's path to 11 wins, the SEC championship game victory over Texas and a spot in the College Football Playoff was filled with harrowing results by the defense. The defense produced three NFL first-round draft picks — Mykel Williams, Jalon Walker and Malaki Starks — despite giving up 41 points in a loss to Alabama and closing the regular season with a 44-42 win over Georgia Tech in eight overtimes. It's no coincidence that Georgia's back-to-back national championships in 2021 and 2022 were built on defense under Smart, a former defensive coach. Georgia led the SEC in points and yards allowed in three consecutive seasons, beginning with the 2021 team that led the nation with 10.20 points allowed per game. The proud tradition of strong defenses slipped in 2024 when the Bulldogs fell to eighth in the league with 20.57 points and 329 yards allowed per game. 'You start rationalizing stats, then you're just making excuses for a performance that wasn't up to our standard,' Schumann said last week. 'The number one thing we need to do better in run defense is tackle better. In fact, we did not tackle to our standard last year.' Georgia, No. 5 in The Associated Press preseason Top 25 poll released Monday, carries high expectations, including on defense. The belief the 2025 defense can return to its lead role may be at least partly based on the championship standard of units led by such players as Travon Walker, Jordan Davis, Eric Stokes, Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith. 'Speaking of a defense, I think it really comes down to the little things,' said linebacker CJ Allen, expected to be a leader of the unit. 'Our whole theme and this message this whole offseason for the whole team has been fire, passion, energy. Playing with fire, passion, energy, being able to affect each other means a lot. Just coming out doing the little things.' Freshman defensive lineman Elijah Griffin, one of the top signees, has an opportunity to make an immediate impact. 'EG's doing great,' Schumann said. "You always want to temper expectations on young players, but he has a maturity to him, a work ethic to him. He's obviously a big guy with a lot of athleticism. So we hope that Elijah's able to help us this year. ... He's had a good start to camp.' Linebacker Raylen Wilson and safety KJ Bolden are other leaders of the defense. Smart said he is watching the defensive line, led by junior tackle Christen Miller, as a key to the emphasis on stopping the run. 'We need him to be a playmaker,' Smart said of Miller. 'We need him to be disruptive. We talk about habit, we talk about quickness, speed, experience. He's our most experienced player. He has taken on this role of knowing the burden lies with him to set a standard for that group.' Smart said the goal of stopping the run 'starts with that group. I mean, it's everybody, but it really starts with the defensive line, and what kind of mentality that room has. And so far, he has approached that the right way.' ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: and
