The first clue that the latest edition of EA Sports College football was seriously whacked was when 9-4 Alabama came out as the top team in the game. The Tide should be improved in 2025 and have a great tradition, but they have a first-year starter at quarterback, road games at Florida State, Georgia and South Carolina.
The Sporting News Composite places Kalen Deboer's second-year team at No. 9. No poll they survey has them higher than No. 7, while one source ranks them No. 23.
Yet in the EA world they're the No. 1 team in the country. Ryan Williams is a sensational receiver, but he's no Jeremiah Smith.
However the biggest indication that something was seriously skewed in College Football 26 is that Oregon has the No. 19-rated offense in the game.
#19 offense for Oregon is insane. https://t.co/Sn13QQS5uQ pic.twitter.com/Oa8vrNtoXh
— B1GtimeDuck (@B1GtimeDuck) June 28, 2025
That's absurd. In the last three seasons, while going 35-6 on the scoreboard, the Ducks have finished 17th, 2nd, and 9th in scoring offense.
The Quack Attack boasts a sound scheme and lots of talent. Losing Evan Stewart to an offseason injury hurts, but Oregon is eight-deep in blue-chip talent in that receiver room, three-deep at running back, and they feature one of the best offensive lines in the country.
A skeptic can say that Dante Moore is unproven but so are Ty Simpson, Austin Mack, and Keelon Russell, the contenders in Tuscaloosa. Simpson, the likely starter from Martin, Tennessee, has thrown 50 career passes in three seasons, with a completion rate of 58 percent, zero touchdowns.
Thankfully it's just 62 days until college football, and all these assumptions and predictions give way to actual games.
The EA Sports college football game is coming back next year. A couple of weeks ago Oregon coach Dan Lanning and I discussed our memories of the game. Lanning says he did not learn to be a playcaller through the game. pic.twitter.com/WEOq2jE0qc
— Andy Staples (@Andy_Staples) May 17, 2023
While the game is fun and entertaining for those who enjoy the thrill of being a coach and play-caller, joyously smashing the x and the y for a crazy corkscrew spin move, it's fuzzy and imprecise in fundamental ways. For instance, this isn't the man who wooed Sauphia Lanning.
Who the hell is this? Cuz it ain’t Dan Lanning… pic.twitter.com/DJL6bRTHrT
— CarolinaDNA (@CarolinaDNA) June 24, 2025
The Ducks scored 34.9 points a game last season and averaged 6.39 yards per play. The 2025 version is likely to be more explosive. Play the video game with caution.
Oregon Dan Lanning running y pop off wide zone with formation to the boundary. Great execution in the red zone. Hold the safety with the screen action on the outside. pic.twitter.com/yl5paMVDXX
— coachkou (@coachkou) November 13, 2024