Tag: ratings

Wisconsin Badgers ranked as a top team in EA Sports College Football 25

Top 25 team rankings for EA Sports College Football 25

EA Sports unveiled the team power rankings for its soon-to-be-released College Football 25 video game on Saturday.

The release included deep dives into every top 25 team in the video game, plus an exclusive look at some of its gameplay features. Those deep dives were also complete with the ratings of every team’s top players, their offensive and defensive schemes, and what to expect from each group during the 2024 season.

Related: EA Sports College Football 25 player ratings for Wisconsin Badgers’ 2024 offensive, defensive leaders

Wisconsin was one of those top 25 teams. EA Sports partnered with 247Sports college football analyst Josh Pate for a first look at the Badgers in the video game. He discussed the team’s top players on both sides of the football and the 2024 team’s potential under head coach Luke Fickell.

The Badgers are not expected to crack any preseason top 25 ranking after finishing both 2022 and 2023 with 7-6 records. But EA Sports College Football is somewhat high on the Badgers, and actually has the program ranked comfortably within the previously-mentioned top 25.

Here is a look at that complete top-25 power ranking:

WATCH: Full preview of Wisconsin Badgers in EA Sports College Football 25

WATCH: Full preview of Wisconsin Badgers in EA Sports College Football 25

247Sports college football analyst Josh Pate released a full preview of the Wisconsin Badgers in the upcoming EA Sports College Football 25 video game.

The 47-second video includes information on the player ratings of some of the Badgers’ most important players — including QB Tyler Van Dyke, RB Chez Mellusi, WR Will Pauling, RT Riley Mahlman, LT Jack Nelson, S Hunter Wohler and CB Ricardo Hallman. It also gives a preview of the gameplay of the soon-to-be-released game.

Related: Wisconsin football’s projected 2024 offense starting lineup

Wisconsin is the 18th-best team in the video game, trailing notable Big Ten programs including Ohio State (No. 2 overall), Oregon (No. 3), Penn State (No. 9) and Michigan (No. 11).

The team is led by the defensive duo of S Wohler (90 OVR) and CB Hallman (91 OVR), with a promising offensive attack highlighted by QB Van Dyke (83 OVR), RB Mellusi (84 OVR), WR Pauling (86 OVR), LT Nelson (87 OVR) and RT Mahlman (87 OVR).

It is likely to be better than the 2023 Badgers who finished with a 7-6 record. But the big question is how much better, and how much will that improvement matter against a gauntlet schedule.

Wisconsin would be a fun program to take over in EA College Football 25’s dynasty mode. The 2024 schedule sees opportunities for big-time home wins against Alabama, Oregon and Penn State. But as mentioned, the program has real room for improvement after consecutive 7-6 seasons. That gives the potential for a fun and rewarding build.

The much-anticipated video game will be released to the public on July 19.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion.

Two Wisconsin Badgers among top-rated players in EA Sports College Football 25

Two Wisconsin Badgers among top-rated players in EA Sports College Football 25

Wisconsin stars safety Hunter Wohler and cornerback Ricardo Hallman are among the top 100-rated players in EA Sports College Football 25.

The game’s full player ratings were revealed on Wednesday as the video game nears its much-anticipated July 19 release.

Related: Ranking every wide receiver corps in the Big Ten Conference entering 2024 season

Wohler is the No. 84 overall player in the game, given a 90 player rating. He is the No. 3-ranked strong safety, behind only Virginia’s Jonas Sanker (92 OVR) and Penn State‘s Kevin Winston Jr. (91 OVR).

Hallman, meanwhile, is up at No. 62 overall with a player rating of 91. He is the No. 9 overall cornerback, trailing only Michigan star Will Johnson (96 OVR), Notre Dame‘s Benjamin Morrison (94 OVR), Arizona’s Tacario Davis (92 OVR), Louisville’s Quincy Riley (92 OVR), Ohio State‘s Denzel Burke (91 OVR), Virginia Tech’s Dorian Strong, Oregon‘s Jabbar Muhammad and Kentucky‘s Maxwell Hairston (91 OVR).

The best players in the game are Johnson, LSU star LT Will Campbell (96 OVR), Oklahoma State RB Ollie Gordon II (96 OVR), Tennessee edge rusher James Pearce Jr. (95 OVR), Ohio State safety Caleb Downs (95 OVR) and Colorado WR/CB Travis Hunter (95 OVR).

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes, and opinion.

EA Sports College Football 25 unveils defensive power rankings entering 2024 season

EA Sports College Football 25 unveils defensive power rankings entering 2024 season

EA Sports College Football 25 continued its release of the video game’s gameplay features on Thursday with its offensive and defensive power rankings.

Every team in the video game has an overall rating, plus one for its offensive and defensive unit. Those ratings are all scaled from 1-100, with each team’s overall rating acting as some sort of average between that of its two units.

Related: EA Sports College Football 25 unveils ranking of toughest places to play in college football

EA Sports’ unveiling of the ratings of the soon-to-be-released video game predictably led to arguing and disagreement amongst fanbases. The video game is effectively dominating the conversation surrounding the sport at the moment, as was just the case with its recent list of the top stadium atmospheres.

From a Wisconsin perspective, the Badgers were predictably left off of the ranking of the top 25 offenses. The program is still transitioning to Phil Longo’s air raid system and did not produce good results in 2023.

But Wisconsin did not only make the video game’s top 25 defenses, but the group is in its top 15. Mike Tressel’s transfer-heavy unit is expected to take another big step forward after a solid, yet unspectacular effort in 2023. The Badgers may have shifted their identity toward the offensive side of the football, but the defense remains the best unit on the team.

Here is where the Badgers fell among EA Sports’ top 15 defenses, including the video game’s 1-100 rating for each unit:

Oklahoma vs. Texas Women’s College World Series Final most watched ever

Oklahoma’s win over Texas to clinch their eighth national title set a new viewership record.

The Oklahoma Sooners completed another historic season with their 8-4 win over the Texas Longhorns. The Red River Rivals competed in front of the largest viewership ever for a [autotag]Women’s College World Series[/autotag] Finals.

The Sooners and Longhorns averaged 2 million viewers and peaked at 2.5 million, setting a new high, up 3% from the previous record from 2015. This year’s viewership for the finals was up 24% from 2023. They were also the second and third most streamed softball games on ESPN+

It was a back-and-forth affair through the first half of the game, with Texas taking the lead twice before the Sooners took the lead for good in the fourth inning and pulled away in the sixth.

More: Best photos from Sooners 8-4 win over Texas Longhorns

The Red River Showdown between the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the nation came down to the wire.

There was a lot on the line in this rivalry matchup for the championship. Texas was trying to win their first title, and the Oklahoma Sooners were looking to win their record fourth-straight and eighth overall.

The game reached its climax in the sixth inning as the Longhorns pulled within one, but Oklahoma pulled away in the bottom half with three runs to take an insurmountable four-run lead into the seventh.

In a game that was filled with drama and had several lead changes, Kelly Maxwell worked a drama-free 1-2-3 inning to close out the win.

College softball is growing across the nation. Programs around the country regularly set weekend attendance records, and viewership has grown across the sport.

Oklahoma’s dominance has drawn new fans to the sport, both to witness their greatness and root for their downfall. Either way, the sport is growing at a rapid pace and that’s great for the athletes and for the game.

More: Social media reacts to the Sooners win over Texas to clinch national title

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on X @john9williams.

2024 NFL Draft viewership fell off after stellar first round audience

2024 NFL Draft viewership fell off after a stellar audience for Thursday night’s first round, though there was record in-person attendance

Drawing a record-setting 275,000 people into downtown Detroit, the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft also did very well for the network broadcasts. Viewership for Thursday night of draft weekend was way up in 2024.

Per the Associated Press, 12.1 million tuned into the various viewing platforms for the first round. That figure is up six percent from 2023 and was the highest since the 2021 draft. Back in 2021, quarterbacks also went 1-2-3 at the start of the selection process.

This year trumped that with four quarterbacks in the first eight selections and six overall in the first 12 picks. All the hype and intrigue around the quarterbacks hooked in viewers.

Alas, all the quarterback action and high-profile drama died down quickly in 2024. As a result, the great ratings on the first night wound up dipping significantly for the rest of the weekend. The total weekend viewership was down three percent from 2023, at 53.9 million non-repeat viewers.

The in-person attendance held strong over the entire weekend, thanks in part to nice weather in Detroit. Over 775,000 fans filed into the downtown draft area over the three days of the draft, breaking the previous record by almost 200,000 people.

Pete Carmichael was one of the NFL’s worst offensive play callers, says analyst

The bar isn’t very high for Klint Kubiak. He’s replacing Pete Carmichael, who this analyst says was one of the NFL’s worst offensive play callers in 2023:

Three of the NFL’s four worst play callers worked in the NFC South last year, according to research from pro football analyst Steven Patton. That includes former New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael, who was dismissed after the season. He’s expected to be replaced by San Francisco 49eres passing game specialist Klint Kubiak, who is unallowed to sign a contract until after Super Bowl LVIII.

Patton’s methodology considered “personnel and market efficiency with team constraints” which reflects performance relative to other teams facing the same opponents and key players missing due to injury or suspension. And Carmichael ended the 2023 season with the third-worst rating; only ex-Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator Thomas Brown (hired by the Chicago Bears for 2024) and recently-fired Atlanta Falcons head coach Arthur Smith (picked up by the Pittsburgh Steelers) ranked lower.

Carmichael struggled to adapt the Sean Payton offense to modern times. He was too slow to add motion to the offense and took too long to emphasize the play action passes that Derek Carr thrived with throughout his Raiders career. The Saints were too predictable in their personnel, often keying in opposing defenses to whether the play was a run or pass by relying too hard on blocking specialists at wide receiver. A bigger problem than that was predictability in their formations; New Orleans only rarely threw out of running looks and vice versa, giving Alvin Kamara too few light boxes to run against.

Hopefully Kubiak can liven things up in 2024. The Saints are betting that he learned a lot from his year in San Francisco working under Kyle Shanahan (who, Patton says, was the league’s fourth-best play caller on offense) and his previous experience calling plays for the Minnesota Vikings (in 2021) and Denver Broncos (during six games in 2022). And the good news is the bar isn’t too high in New Orleans. If Kubiak can stay about the bottom-tier he’ll be an improvement over past results. Obviously the Saints are betting he’ll do much better than that.

[lawrence-auto-related count=4]

Notre Dame Football: Early enrollee earns fifth star

Well earned although they should have given him it a while ago…

One of the prized jewels of the 2024 recruiting class for Notre Dame has earned a fifth star in his recruiting rankings according to Rivals.

Linebacker [autotag]Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa[/autotag], who enrolled at Notre Dame as a part of the 2024 recruiting class earlier this month, was given the fifth star by Rivals on Monday.

From the Rivals writeup:

For a long time, the people at powerhouse Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco said Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa could end up as the best defensive player in program history, and the Notre Dame signee has proven it time and again.

He’s mature and serious about what he wants to accomplish on and off the field. Viliamu-Asa goes out and delivers every single time. Whether he’s blitzing, dropping in coverage or running sideline-to-sideline, the five-star linebacker can do it all. He could be special in South Bend.

That’s great that he earned the fifth star I suppose. When we look back at ratings in the years to come we can say Notre Dame landed a five-star talent in the recruiting class, and he finished 19th overall in the Rivals ratings.

Getting excited about this is a bit weird to me, though. If you’ve been paying attention, you’re well aware Viliamu-Asa is a mega-talented recruit regardless of whether he had a fifth star by his name.

Notre Dame Football: Best Offensive Players of 2023 Ranked 1-15

Which grades surprise you the most?

Notre Dame’s offense in 2023 goes down as one of the most successful in program history by a numbers standpoint.  By a viewers standpoint they were also towards the top of the list of being the most frustrating we’ve ever seen.

Great against poor competition while seemingly unprepared for the likes of Ohio State, Louisville, and Clemson.

So from a completely emotion-less perspective, who had the best seasons on Notre Dame’s offense?  And who left a decent amount to be desired?

Pro Football Focus has their grades for Notre Dame’s entire roster for 2023.  We went through and found the 15 offensive players they ranked the highest for their performances in 2023.  See who made the top 15 below.

Players included in this top 15 had to have played a minimum of 100 snaps on offense in 2023.

Pac-12 closes with highest-rated game in conference history with Oregon vs. Washington

Pac-12 closes with highest-rated game in conference history with Oregon vs. Washington

With numbers like these, it’s still a wonder why this conference couldn’t find a television deal in order to keep the lights on.

ABC announced Saturday morning that it drew an average of 9.2 million viewers for the Pac-12 championship game where Washington defeated Oregon 34-31. It was the largest rating for the game since its inception.

The rating is 47 percent more than last year’s game where Utah beat USC 47-24, a game that was televised by Fox. At its peak in the middle of the second half, 11.1 million viewers were tuning into the last-ever Pac-12 football contest.

Unfortunately, it really was the last Pac-12 game as the conference couldn’t get any network to buy into the league. Ironically, this might have been the Pac-12’s finest season with two playoff contenders, two Heisman contenders and it was perhaps the deepest league in the country, even better than the mighty SEC.

For a finale, the Ducks and Huskies put on a good show where the game went down to the wire.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]