Texas mascot Bebo before an NCAA college football game between Texas and Oklahoma State University, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2019, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
AUSTIN (KXAN) — College football will return to video game platforms when EA Sports releases the highly anticipated College Football 25 worldwide on July 19. With name, image and likeness rights now in place, the glamour and tradition will return after an 11-year hiatus.
Ahead of the game's release, EA released several rankings, specifically focusing on evaluating a program's offense and defense, as well as the “toughest place to play,” with the Texas Longhorns ranking in the top 25 in all three rankings and in the top 10 in offense and defense.
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The Longhorns' offense, led by quarterback Quinn Ewers, one of the game's standout players, received an overall rating of 91, tying them with Alabama for third place overall. EA said its development team “combed deeply into hundreds of thousands of data points to compile the Team Power Rankings,” including by using data from Pro Football Focus.
Georgia and Oregon boast the game's top offenses with a 94 rating, while Ohio State, Louisiana State, Miami, Colorado and Missouri all received grades of 89. Clemson rounded out the top 10 with an 87 rating. Texas A&M ranked 18th with an 85 rating.
Defensively, Texas ranks eighth overall with a rating of 88, a somewhat low grade coming out of the game. Penn State, Utah, Florida State, Oklahoma and Iowa all have the same defensive rating as the Longhorns. There are seven teams with a rating of 90 or higher, with Ohio State leading the way with 96. Georgia has 94, while Oregon, Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame and Michigan all receive 90s. Texas A&M's defense is rated 84, which is tied with several other schools lower in the top 25.
In previous versions, EA added a feature that gave teams home-field advantage. When user-controlled teams play in hostile environments, controllers vibrate with varying intensity, the screen shows blurry, incorrect passing routes, and player attributes increase or decrease depending on their level of “confidence and poise.” This year's game takes it to another level with a “hardest places to play” list.
EA's development team used historical data like home winning percentage, attendance, home winning streak, program prestige and other factors to compile the list, but one team in particular stood out: a Southeastern Conference team from Texas.
Texas A&M's Kyle Field topped the list, with Alabama's Bryant-Denny Stadium, Louisiana State University's Tiger Stadium, Ohio State University's Ohio Stadium and University of Georgia's Sanford Stadium rounding out the top five. Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium was ranked 19th, between the University of Utah's Rice-Eccles Stadium and the University of Iowa's Kinnick Stadium.
