PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Panthers will be featured in “EA Sports College Football 25,” a new college football video game due for release in less than a month.
Electronia Arts (EA) released several new updates this week, including the toughest places to play, detailed analysis of the sights and sounds, top attacks and defenses, and overall team rankings.
Only the top 25 teams were released for the ratings and rankings, and while Pittsburgh wasn't among them, some of their opponents were.
Clemson met all three ratings, finishing tied for 10th in offensive rating, 87 overall, tied for third in defensive rating, 90 overall, and tied for sixth in the power rankings.
The Tigers return second-team All-ACC linebacker Barrett Carter, third-team All-ACC tight end Jake Briningstall, offensive tackle Blake Miller and offensive tackle Will Putnam, along with All-ACC honorable mention running back Phil Muffa, defensive end TJ Parker and safeties Khalil Barnes and RJ Mickens.
The University of Pittsburgh will host Clemson University at Acrisure Stadium in their final home game of the season on November 16. The University of Pittsburgh defeated Clemson University 27-17 in their last meeting in October 2021 to advance to the ACC Championship.
SMU enters this game tied for 17th in the offensive power rankings, and they return players such as first-team All-AAC guards Justin Osborne and Logan Parr, tight end RJ Maryland, second-team All-AAC running back Jaylan Knighton and third-team All-AAC quarterback Preston Stone.
Louisville and North Carolina were tied for 18th in overall defense rankings at 84th. Pittsburgh beat then-14th-ranked Louisville 38-21 on October 14, but lost to then-17th-ranked North Carolina 41-24 on September 23.
The Cardinals return first-team All-ACC guard Ashton Girotto, third-team All-ACC safety Devin Neal, honorable mention All-ACC defensive tackle Desmond Tell, linebacker TJ Quinn and cornerbacks Jarvis Brownlee and Quincy Riley.
The Tar Heels return second-team All-ACC defensive end Kymon Rucker, third-team All-ACC linebacker Power Echols and honorable mention All-ACC cornerback Elijah Hagy.
EA Sports' college football video game will likely be one of the biggest games of the year, as it will be the first college football video game to be released since 2013, ending an 11-year hiatus.
Bill Walsh College Football was the first college football video game released in 1993. The legendary head coach from Stanford University and the San Francisco 49ers graced the cover of the first two editions, followed by College Football USA 96/97 for the next two editions.
The NCAA began branding video games in 1997 with NCAA College Football 98 and continued branding until 2013 with NCAA College Football 14. Since then, all FBS teams have entered video games, but NCAA branding also brought the entry of official bowl games and awards such as the Heisman Trophy, Biletinoff Trophy, etc.
The game featured a variety of play modes, including Dynasty mode, a later version of Ultimate Team, and Road to Glory, which allowed players to play as themselves and become a star.
NCAA College Football has been released on various consoles including Wii, PlayStation, XBOX, GameCube, and Windows. This new edition will be released for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.
The University of Pittsburgh also had a player on the cover, with Biletinoff Award winner Larry Fitzgerald appearing on the cover of NCAA College Football 2005.
The reason for the college football video game's hiatus comes in the wake of a dispute involving the NCAA, Electronic Arts, and the use of likenesses of college athletes.
Among the controversies were several conferences pulling out of the game, the NCAA continuing to debate the amateur status of student-athletes, and a lack of understanding over how college athletes should be paid, forcing EA to choose to shelve the game for the time being.
NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) allows student-athletes to profit from themselves and makes it easier for EA to find ways to create new college football games.
Student-athletes can also play as themselves. In previous versions, there was no player name or description. Now, they will have their own picture, name, and more for the game.
NIL pays student-athletes about $600 in participation fees and provides the game (about $70) free of charge.
Electronic Arts has partnered with NIL rights firm One Team Partners and CLC, the nation's top collegiate trademark licensing firm, to provide more than 15,000 current student-athletes with access to merchandise deals and now video game contracts.
The previous game sold around 1.5 million copies, but the upcoming one is expected to sell much more than that when it hits stores this summer on July 19th.
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