Top 5 Ncaa Football Games We Can't Live Without

We’re still over a year away from the release of EA Sports College Football. However, fans are so excited they’re already discussing who should be on the cover, and what modes they’d like to see return. While we can’t wait for the revival of the series, we’d like to take a look back. Here’s a list of the top 5 NCAA Football games that we just can’t live without.

5. NCAA Football 2001

The Playstation 1 NCAA game surprisingly holds up very well to this day. Sure the gameplay and animations may be outdated, but there’s a lot to do.

NCAA Football 2001 is on the list purely because of it’s great variety of content. You could create a player, create a school, or create a custom league or tournament. Season and Dynasty schedules could also be fully customized. If you wanted to have a schedule facing off against the toughest teams, the choice was yours.

It was also the last NCAA Football game to have a playoff mode in its Dynasty Mode. Up to 24 teams could play against each other at the end of the season. What made this fun was that it wouldn’t just be the no. 1 and 2. teams anymore playing each other at the end. Now they had to prove their worth against the other teams who fought hard during the season.

Gameplay wise, NCAA 2001 introduced a couple of mechanics that were fun. One was being able to play as any player on either side of the ball. Want to just be the WR and let the CPU do the passing? Go ahead! Want to be the halfback before the QB even takes the snap, the world is yours.

It was also nice being able to edit player names, as NCAA regulations at the time prevented real player names from being in the game. It was a nice workaround. NCAA won’t let you play with real player names? That’s fine, you can just change it yourself.

Fun fact: Shaun Alexander, the cover athlete of this game, is also the cover athlete for Madden NFL 07, another great sports game.

4. NCAA Football 2004

Another great NCAA game on one of the best eras of console gaming. NCAA Football 2004 had many similarities to 2003. Gameplay wise there isn’t much to talk about. It’s still a fantastic college football simulation game that comes with what you’d expect.

However, what makes this game stand out is the new features implemented into the title. Creating a school gave access to a whole suite of logos with customizable colors. You could also edit the team’s mascot, playbook, play style, rival, and all sorts of stadium details. The result was an extremely immersive college football game with a boat load of stuff you could do.

The game also had updated presentation features. You could see players heading out of the locker room and running out onto the field. Touchdown celebrations could now cause unsportsmanlike penalties, making the experience more real. Dynasty Mode gave you access to a Sports Illustrated page that highlighted everything going on in the league. From there you could see things like Preseason Polls and Heisman watchlist.

NCAA 2004 should also be credited as the first game in the series with online play. But if you’re looking to play by yourself don’t worry. You could still play Dynasty Mode, Mascot Game, and re-live historic moments in College Football moments.