Latest news with #DavidUbben
New York Times
24-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
College Football 26 Dynasty mode upgrades, plus BYU just did it again
Until Saturday Newsletter 🏈 | This is The Athletic's college football newsletter. Sign up here to receive Until Saturday directly in your inbox. Today in college football news, it's the 10th birthday of the greatest pop album ever, 'Emotion' by Carly Rae Jepsen. I might prefer 'Dedicated Side B,' though. Absolutely, it's time to lead the newsletter with the video game again. (Though if you're not into the video game, there's other stuff below. And to be fair, it's June.) Moments ago, EA Sports released the second 'deep dive' video previewing the upcoming followup to the record-setting College Football 25, this time highlighting new features in Dynasty mode — aka the team-management mode, aka the mode in which some of us will once again spend 99 percent of our time with this game. Meanwhile, Chris Vannini and David Ubben, who've spent a good bit of time with the July 10 release, just discussed some of their favorite new Dynasty features … David: 'We're underrating how much having real coaches (more than 300 head coaches and coordinators) will add a new element to the game as a whole and, specifically, Dynasty mode. When you create a coach, it often feels like you're stepping into a fantasy version of college football. Adding player names helped make it more real, and coaches will make it even more so.' … and their hopes for further improvement: Chris: 'There will finally be protected opponents. You can select one or two in a conference. This was announced for last year but pulled at the last minute. … I still miss the ability to take control of games not involving your team.' I'm most interested in what appears to be improved recruiting (like a busier transfer portal and my team's position needs appearing right up top, rather than on a separate screen) and the series regaining some historical record-keeping (the return of your own Trophy Room, along with an ever-updating list of national champions from 1869 onward, which some of us are carefully scrutinizing by comparing to the champs crowned in 2017 by the Colley Matrix and in 1984 by the University of Alabama). Also, when I read this sentence by Robby Kalland at CBS, I literally fist-pumped: 'Pro Potential got a tweak so it doesn't just evaluate the talent you have on the roster at present, but factors in your draft results for the past four seasons.' No longer will my Colorado State Rams or FIU Panthers be punished for going a year without a draft pick in between first-round Biletnikoff winners. (A correction: Last week, I described mass substitutions as being 'absent' from last year's edition. It was absent at launch, when I put in the far majority of my hours, but was patched in a bit later. Still, this year's game looks like it has better lineup management.) 🧑🌾 'In some crazy way, I enjoy all the crazy stuff that's going on the last couple of years here with our game and the landscape and all that. It's almost like a challenge.' 😺 Half a year after BYU gained a nationally televised commitment from No. 1 men's basketball recruit AJ Dybantsa, the Cougars moments ago did it again with five-star Ryder Lyons, who'd been the top uncommitted 2026 QB. 📖 The SEC has quite a bit of QB hype this year. One more name to add: Texas A&M's Marcel Reed, as Ralph Russo explains. 💰 Last week, Wisconsin sued Miami, alleging NIL-related tampering. I agree with the story's top commenter: 'They should allow players to switch schools during halftime.' 💎 Sunday, LSU won its eighth men's College World Series title, though the primary excitement was Coastal Carolina's manager and first-base coach being ejected almost immediately for what seemed like very normal levels of baseball yelling. In a championship elimination game! As the Zombie Pac-12 continues to rebuild its media profile (more CBS, along with ESPN and The Almighty CW, as detailed in a new story by Vannini), it also still needs to add one more team in order to count as an NCAA football conference. Having said that, I think the Pac-12 should just stick at seven. What's the NCAA gonna do about it? Exist? Still, let's say the Pac-12 follows the rules. Currently, Texas State is the clear favorite, with its school president even teasing an image of beavers (as in, Oregon State's mascot) in the Bobcats' San Marcos River. Okay, if that happens, then what? Why, here's Vannini yet again: 'The Sun Belt would likely move quickly and replace Texas State with Louisiana Tech, Western Kentucky or Middle Tennessee from Conference USA, according to a person briefed on the Sun Belt's thinking. CUSA is set to expand this year to 12 schools by adding Delaware and Missouri State from the Football Championship Subdivision. If the league did lose a school and try to backfill, it wouldn't be able to add another FCS program until 2027 at the earliest because of the FCS-FBS transition process.' Oh, fun fact: TXST actually wouldn't be the Pac-12's easternmost member. Lest we forget the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, an affiliate member for wrestling. Conference champs, in fact. All hail Little Rock, the Pac-12's only Trojans. Email me at untilsaturday@ with thoughts on which team even further east should join the Pac-12. Last week's most-clicked: Lots of you clicked this story about former NFL players chuckling at tabloid star Bill Belichick, you haters!
New York Times
24-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
EA Sports College Football 26: What's new in Dynasty? What we like and still want to see
EA Sports has slow-played the announcement of new features and adjustments to game modes for College Football 26, the second installment of the revival of its college football video game, but as the July 10 release date gets closer, we can finally talk about the foundational part of the game: Dynasty mode. Advertisement On Tuesday, EA Sports released deeper details about the mode. The Athletic's Chris Vannini visited EA Sports in late May for a first look at the new features. Chris and David Ubben also spent two days with a beta version of the game earlier this month, so they have thoughts on the changes to Dynasty. This is not a full review of the game, which will come around the release date. Here, let's address the biggest changes, what we like, what we're unsure about and what we'd like to see in Dynasty mode. Chris: David, I've always been a Dynasty guy since I was a kid, more than online play or Road to Glory. So when CFB 25 came out last year, I was glad to see Dynasty was one of the pillars in bringing the game back. But it wasn't complete. It wasn't that deep of an experience compared to older games. We've both spent some time with Dynasty for CFB 26, so let's talk about what's new, starting with the larger experience. The Trophy Room is back, though I didn't get to test it in beta. The game includes more history, like every winner of every conference championship and individual trophy. Game commentators will update you on scores across the country. You can customize max transfers per team and wear and tear. What about the experience changes do you like most? David: Last year, I started at South Florida before taking the Minnesota job and eventually finding a home at Ole Miss. But around the third year there, my schedule was broken. And not the nonconference schedule you can customize before you begin the season. One year, I played six of my eight SEC games at home. The next year, I was on the road for six of eight. I'm looking forward to that change in the new game and not having to worry about that while also having better protected rivalry games. The Trophy Room will add some depth, though I'd also like to see an option to watch highlights from the game that won you that trophy. It would add a lot for me to go back and reminisce and watch players real and fake that I grew to love in the game. Advertisement I'm glad to see they've made a commitment to 1) adding the real awards from college football that were absent from last year's game and 2) fixing how they're awarded. It's not a huge deal, but it was annoying in last year's game when my running back with 800 yards and 12 touchdowns would win the Best Running Back award. What stood out to you about the new scheduling fixes? Chris: There will finally be protected opponents. You can select one or two in a conference. This was announced for last year but pulled at the last minute. I played around with this in beta a few weeks ago. The protected opponents were randomized, and the process of changing them was a bit cumbersome, though it's possible it was off just because it was an old beta model. But I like having this. I still miss the ability to take control of games not involving your team in the old NCAA days. Chris: Let's talk coaches. I'll let you talk about real coaches in the game, but fans will be happy to know that user-created coaches have a lot more gear to choose from. There are several kinds of hoodies and quarter-zips. There are shorts and sweater vests. There are sleeveless shirts (shout out to former Charlotte coach Biff Poggi). Coaches can also have demeanors and stances. This was fun to play around with. David: The limited coach apparel options in last year's game didn't really matter, but it was a bit of a bummer. No such issue in this year's game. Those options really pop in the new version. It's a huge upgrade. For future suggestions, what about customizing your coach gear for each game like the team jerseys in the game menu screen? It's been one of the selling points of the game, but I think we're underrating how much having real coaches (more than 300 head coaches and coordinators) will add a new element to the game as a whole and, specifically, Dynasty mode. When you create a coach, it often feels like you're stepping into a fantasy version of college football. Adding player names helped make it more real, and coaches will make it even more so. Advertisement It's already surreal to see the virtual versions of coaches. Kirby Smart and Marcus Freeman were among those in EA Sports' recent deep dive releases and looked great. But Lane Kiffin crossed over into the uncanny valley that had me laughing. I can't wait to run into some of these coaches and coordinators and see who looks like the Cristiano Ronaldo bust. This game has always been about immersion but there were limitations in the past. Those limitations are getting fewer and fewer. Chris: We didn't have any real coaches in beta, but when I was in Orlando, I didn't see Bill Belichick or Deion Sanders, for what it's worth. Belichick never opted into Madden, so that wouldn't be a surprise. I found the coaching carousel to be more active and interesting, which people asked for. If you're mad at your coordinator in real life, let some steam off and fire him in the game. And your coordinator skills matter more now too. Again, the beta was an older model, so I got the Arizona State job after a 5-7 season at North Texas, but offers can change week to week. You can also see where every coach went and whether they were fired, took another college job or went to the NFL. You get more notifications on your coordinators. You can see a coach's career record and their history, and they have a prestige grade. Coach skill levels can now go up to 100, and there are new talents. Being a recruiter coach gives you more visits for recruiting. It'll also cost more points to become a well-rounded coach, cheaper to improve in your designated skills. I'm not super into that part of the game, but for those who are, it's deeper. Chris: This is always a hot-button issue in Dynasty. I didn't love recruiting in the final few NCAA games because it took too much work. CFB 25 was a major improvement on that front, but the experience was mixed. Some people could get blue-chippers to Group of 5 schools. It took me time to figure out the right strategy. But some easy quality-of-life improvements in CFB 26 include your 'needs' list already on the main screen, rather than having to hit buttons to find it, and a larger transfer portal. Very helpful. You're not a big recruiting guy, but any thoughts? Advertisement David: Last year, recruiting was incredibly deep. This year, somehow they made it even deeper. It's hard to see recruitniks not loving what EA has done. But they also understand the sport. I appreciate they're not plugging stuff into a spreadsheet. They noted in the deep dive that an 85-rated senior guard is going to have a different star rating for a transfer than an 85-rated freshman quarterback. That's the portal. That's the current world of college football. Future eligibility and position have a massive impact on your value. This franchise isn't without flaws, but it's also a massive undertaking. The thing that I appreciate the most about its revival is the people in charge understand and love college football and are trying to put that in the game. Little touches like that show ways they can do that. Chris: Similarly, I like that the cost of a visit will now depend on the distance. That incentivizes local recruiting, just like real life. I still wish we could create a prospect like the old days, but that remains missing, with the focus instead on Road To Glory. The last big thing we haven't mentioned: Dynasty is now crossplay, meaning Xbox and PlayStation 5 players can now use that mode together. That's good for me as an Xbox person. You and I have only played online games against each other. Now we can find out who's actually the better program builder. David: That's a question with an easy answer. (Images courtesy of EA Sports)
