Many sports video game fans across the country (including myself) were excited to learn that the NCAA Football franchise is on track to return to our lives in the summer of 2024, which will be re-named “EA Sports College Football.”
Plans for the game were threatened to be delayed due to a lawsuit from The Brandr Group, citing that the franchise’s $500 million pool, which would give each athlete represented in the game $500, was considered to be “far below market value.”
Despite the setback, EA Sports remains on schedule to release the game next summer.
“We’re incredibly excited to bring back an authentic college football experience for fans and athletes that have shown such passion for the franchise, and we’re looking forward to delivering it in Summer 2024,” an EA spokesperson tells On3’s Pete Nakos.
It has been ten years since the release of the last game, NCAA Football 14. It has us at Auburn Wire thinking… which Auburn athletes missed out on being a cover athlete for the famous video game franchise?
The 2020 season was the end of an era for Auburn, the Tigers went 6-5 in the COVID-shortened season and after the end of the regular season, they decided to fire head coach [autotag]Gus Malzahn[/autotag]. While it was a disappointing end to his tenure. one positive from the 2020 season was the emergence of running back [autotag]Tank Bigsby[/autotag] who is the clear choice to be on the hypothetical NCAA Football 22 cover.
The freshman quickly established himself as Auburn’s top running back, rushing for 834 yards and five touchdowns in 10 games. He averaged an impressive 6.0 yards per carry and rushed for over 100 yards in a game four times, including a herculean effort against Mississippi State where he ran for 192 yards on 26 carries to lead Auburn to victory.
While Bigbsy is the top candidate, several other players also had impressive seasons, including linebacker [autotag]Zakoby McClain[/autotag] who made 113 tackles and forced a fumble. [autotag]Nehemiah Pritchett[/autotag] had a breakout season at corner, defending 10 passes and picking off one.
Before taking a look at the best photos of the contenders, here is a look at each of our previous hypothetical covers.