How to Bring Back the NCAA Football Series Part 4: New Agreement with NCAA/Players - thescoop's Blog

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How to Bring Back the NCAA Football Series Part 4: New Agreement with NCAA/Players

Posted on January 8, 2017 at 12:53 PM.

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Another cover for a fictional NCAA 17

We all miss the NCAA Football series. The the summer wait until Madden's release became much longer after we had our college football series stolen from us. No longer did we have the endless "are the rosters ready yet" posts on the forum. (Not that those are truly missed.) No matter how you feel about the lawsuits that led to the end of the series, we gamers were and still are the biggest losers.

Does it have to be this way? Some would say yes. Others would point out that with a little imagination, we could see a return of not just college football but a return of college video games as a whole.

In my new four part series, we will discuss the different option that one could use to bring back the NCAA or College football series. Those options include: No official licenses, limited licensing, deals with only the major conferences, and new agreement with NCAA and players.

This is final part, Part 4. If you missed the other parts, please read them at the following links and leave feedback as well: http://www.operationsports.com/thesc...cial-licenses/, http://www.operationsports.com/thesc...ted-licensing/ and http://www.operationsports.com/thesc...ferences-deal/

Part 4: New Agreement with the NCAA and Players

Lawsuits ended our beloved series. The month of July stopped being circled. The excitement of a new college football game and the wait for the named rosters has vanished. The closest you have now is a wait for updated rosters for NCAA Football 14, assuming you still have a copy of that game.

But what if grownups actually entered the room? What if instead of a constant "no we won't" attitude, we had folks actually work out an agreement? It seems impossible but we are now living in a world where the Chicago Cubs HAVE won the World Series. Anything is now possible.

Now the point of this article isn't as much about what the deal the NCAA works out with the players becomes as much as it is what type of game we would get if this occurs. So the deal could be an agreement to pay the players a stipend. Maybe it would be something they couldn't claim until their playing career is over or maybe they are granted it at the end of each season. Maybe it is a signed agreement to allow their likeness to be used in these games as part of their scholarships. But for the sake of this article, it doesn't matter. The players and NCAA are on board with the game coming back and have settled their differences.

In this case, all the teams, conferences, bowls, everything we had in NCAA Football 14 returns with playoffs now added. The biggest difference is now the roster makers will never have to hear the "are the rosters ready yet" question again. As part of the agreement, the NCAA is now able to allow the actual players' names to be used in the game. Never again will you start the game with QB#12 on your roster. Everyone will be named that signed the scholarship agreement in time.

This also always upper classmen to have their career stats. Also, if the defending Heisman Trophy winner is returning the next year, he could be mentioned as the returning Heisman Trophy winner. All of this would be a first for the series and would add another element to the game. If USC has a quarterback returning for his senior season that is on pace to set the school career passing record, we could achieve that goal, as well as the NCAA record.

Also, since the deal isn't just for the player's names, but also for their likeness, the players look more like their real life counterparts and we see their actual pictures during presentation. This adds a bit more to the overall presentation of the game. While we wouldn't see all the players get an actual scan, maybe some of the top returning players would be allowed to be scanned as well. The possibilities are now open.

While this agreement will be awesome for the current product, the recruiting game would still have to feature made up names as those agreements we mentioned before won't be signed until their scholarships are signed, but as always you can create your own recruits. They could even opt to allow a create a class that allows you to create the nations top recruits. And this would give the old roster creators something new and fun to work on without the stress of having everyone want it the first day the game came out.

The features we would receive would largely be the ones we've seen in the past. The biggest add-on feature here, besides the actual return of the game itself, would the addition of the actual player names.

Also, as a result of the new deal between the players and NCAA, we would see the return of an NCAA Basketball game and maybe, just maybe, a new NCAA Baseball game gets made as the NCAA is trying to come up with more ways to get back money they give up to the players. (Or in the case they sign away their likeness, they just want to expand the brand.)

This is scenario we dream of as gamers. This is the end we all hope for but also feel is so far away. It seems so simple and yet it doesn't happen. The NCAA has an outdated view that it is unwilling to bend on. But at some point you would think the losses in going to court would make them consider coming to some agreement. But sadly another year is here and their is no sign of movement towards another NCAA football game.

Maybe one day we'll see a return of the game series we all love and miss. Please feel free to leave your comments below and also let us know what of the four options you like the most.

As I said above, we live in a new world where the Chicago Cubs won the World Series. Anything is now in fact possible.

Comments

# 1 thescoop @ Jan 10

After last night's amazing championship game, I think we want to see this series return even more. At least I do....

# 2 kobestopper50 @ Jan 10

I so miss NCAA football so much��

# 3 thescoop @ Jan 11

You and I both, Kobestopper. In fact, I miss it so much I wrote a four part series about how it could return. LOL

# 4 tessl @ Jan 11

I'd love to see the game return for current generation machines. I don't believe in a college game they need to have real players. In 4 years the entire roster in college is generic anyway. A college game with real schools but generic rosters would sell a ton of copes on current generation machines.

# 5 dtlm6 @ Jan 11

I'm in agreement that returning college football game needs real school names, logos and bowl affiliations but does not need player likeness. With recruiting in dynasty mode, new players dominate the roster in a short time. There has to be a way to make this happen. In the past, Madden games would use generic players in place of retired NFL players that they did not have agreement with. Then maybe we can have an NCAA basketball game based on NBA2K and a college baseball game based on MLB the Show (that is, as long as EA doesn't try to monopolize everything again).

# 6 thescoop @ Jan 12

Thanks everyone. I hope if you haven't yet, you guys have also checked out parts 1-3 as well.

# 7 drugsbunny @ Jan 12

I find the concept of paying college players to be crazy. Maybe if college players as well as the institutions actually took education seriously, we would not be having this conversation. The nearly 200 grand that makes for a free education should suffice. Not all make it to the NFL and succeed. Those who choose to enter the draft after 2 seasons make what they make. At the end of the day, there are still players who have aspirations bigger than the NFL and use football as a means to an end. The only persons who suffer are us video game lovers who lose out on a fun experience. I personally could care less about player likeness. I choose random names and alter half of my players anyway. It's all about the game play and game modes. The feeling of taking a small school and making a dynasty.

# 8 thescoop @ Jan 12

Great points, Drugsbunny. I don't care as much about player likeness. I would purchase option 1 I wrote about in part 1 if they released. it. I just want the game back. Sounds like you feel the same way.