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O’Gara: 5 teams that would be fun to start a dynasty with in the new EA Sports CFB video game
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If you haven’t already, clear the calendar on July 19.
The release date is out. The cover is out. The trailer is out. Rejoice, college football fans.
You’ve waited more than a decade for this and for that, your patience will be rewarded when EA Sports’ new college football video game officially drops in 2 months.
Here’s the official trailer:
Bring Glory Home.
Coming July 19. Pre-Order Now
?: https://t.co/sJ7cJ5NXLj#CFB25 pic.twitter.com/iJWl5ZxVQl
— EASPORTSCollege (@EASPORTSCollege) May 17, 2024
Well, your patience will be rewarded unless your only desire was to lead a dynasty with Arch Manning. If that’s what you’ve been waiting on, I suppose you’ll have to keep waiting/hoping for Manning to opt into having his likeness used in the new game.
As for pretty much the rest of the sport, it’s all fair game. For most fans, the idea of playing as their favorite team will be tested, but eventually, they’ll want to pivot elsewhere. They’ll want to find a dynasty team that’s fun to play with, and not necessarily one that’s a national power. Build the program up, hire the right staff, recruit well, win a Heisman Trophy with an unknown player, etc.
I’ve got 5 teams who check those necessary boxes and would be worthy of starting a dynasty with:
1. Arizona
You had me at “Noah Fifita.”
The Arizona quarterback was built for a game like this. He can make the off-platform throws, no play is ever dead and he attacks downfield. That’s ideal. Also ideal? He’s got one of the 2 best returning receivers in America in Tetairoa McMillan. The former high school teammates stayed at Arizona after the Jedd Fisch-Washington departure — they host the “Island Time” podcast together — and might be the best returning combination in the sport.
I could argue that Mizzou is also an elite dynasty team for that exact reason. Luther Burden III and Brady Cook should be one of the top duos, as well. The only reason that Arizona makes the cut here while Mizzou doesn’t is because when those preseason rankings come out, I expect the Tigers to start in that 10-15 range while Arizona will be a little bit closer to the back half of the top 25. Arizona might be the cutoff for “best team you can start a dynasty with that isn’t your own.”
2. Texas State
Shoutout “Necessary Roughness.” Times have changed since Paul Blake left the farm to get Texas State out of the gutter. I’d argue the Texas State offense is even more fun now under G.J. Kinne.
Last year, TJ Finley led the No. 11 offense in the sport. This year, that unit will be run by decorated James Madison transfer Jordan McCloud, who had more TD passes last year than any returning player. He’s got enough mobility to make people miss in the open field, which is a nice combination for an offense that’ll already scheme at a high level. Will defense be a grind? Sure, but that’s the fun of starting a dynasty. You can recruit better and build up that unit.
Texas State is the perfect type of underdog to get on board with because it has enough working in its favor to make Year 1 palatable, but it’s a program with 1 bowl appearance having spent just a decade at the FBS level. While the color scheme and stadium aren’t exactly pleasant to look at, starting your “Road to Glory “with Texas State feels right.
3. USF
A ton of boxes are checked with Alex Golesh’s program. Contrary to last year’s mud-fest in the rain against Alabama that nobody wanted to watch, USF has redeeming video game qualities.
You’ve got an up-and-coming program that still qualifies as an underdog even after it had a 6-win improvement in Year 1 under Golesh. There’s darkhorse 12-team Playoff potential for a roster that ranks No. 8 in America in percentage of returning production. A big part of that optimism was the return of Byrum Brown, who was a dynamic dual-threat quarterback as a redshirt freshman.
But let’s be honest. Part of the appeal of a dynasty with a specific team is the stadium. While there’s buzz about the early renderings for USF’s on-campus stadium that’ll break ground later this fall, you can do a whole lot worse than regularly getting to see the pirate ship at Raymond James Stadium. That’s a 1-of-1 experience.
4. Kansas
OK, I might have a type. I can admit that. I love the well-coached, on-the-rise program with an electric quarterback. Those are all boxes that Kansas checks.
As great as Lance Leipold has done to build up the Jayhawks, nobody will ever claim that you’re being a front-runner by picking Kansas as your team. Like, the program that didn’t win multiple conference games once from 2009-21. Leipold has more conference wins in the last 2 seasons (8) than Kansas had during that 13-year streak. That’s because when healthy, Jalon Daniels is one of top quarterbacks in the country. If you want to turn off injuries, you can make sure you never have to worry about that with him.
Either way, the satisfaction of leading Kansas to a national title in football would be second to none.
5. Colorado
Look. I didn’t say that you had to root for Deion Sanders and the Buffs. Nobody is saying that you need to start defending everything that he and his team say on social media. But in a video game? Yeah, Colorado is a fantastic dynasty team. That would be the case without Sanders, too. Running out to a stadium that scenic with Ralphie? Come on. That’s elite stuff.
But then you factor in the entertainment of playing with Shedeur Sanders and cover man Travis Hunter. That’s elite stuff, too. Getting the Hunter experience as a 2-way player is unique, and while Colorado can’t block to save its life, Sanders would still be a fun quarterback to play with because of how well he makes off-platform throws. That combination alone would be worth it.
Plus, there’s nothing wrong with being the villain in a video game.
Connor O'Gara is the senior national columnist for Saturday Down South. He's a member of the Football Writers Association of America. After spending his entire life living in B1G country, he moved to the South in 2015.
