It goes without saying, college sports video games are awesome. I could go on and on about how good it feels to sit down and play a sports video game with friends into the wee hours of the night, especially when it’s college sports. EA Sports knocked it out of the park with the revitalization of the College Football series this past year, and are primed for another release in July. But earlier today, a tweet came from EA that might change the college sports landscape big time.
That’s right, college basketball video games are coming back. The sports gaming world was turned upside down by this news, and it’s so cool to think about. Syracuse basketball has been synonymous with these games in the past, as Carmelo Anthony donned the cover of EA’s NCAA March Madness 2004 way back in the day, and the Orange were a powerhouse of a program when these games were coming out on an annual basis. But getting the chance to play a video game as the Syracuse Orange in the JMA Wireless Dome is something that seemed unfathomable for the younger generation of fans like me, and now it’s coming back and the excitement is at an all-time high.
Doing these kinds of things is what is going to bring new fans into the college sports world as well. Growing up, I was not a fan of the NBA. However, NBA 2K16 was free on the Xbox for a little while, and that video game made me fall in love with basketball. If I can have that kind of experience, so can a whole lot of other people who may not have ever watched a second of college basketball.
Unfortunately, the first release of this series won’t be until 2028, but you can sit here and wonder who will be the first cover athlete of the game? Who knows, maybe Kiyan Anthony or Sadiq White will be in their fourth or fifth season in Orange by that point and could don the cover? No matter what, it is absolutely awesome that college sports and video games are reuniting their relationship, and maybe this is a sign of things to come with the new college sports landscape and NIL licensing.
