EA College Football 25 will be coming out in short order. In the meantime, you may want to think about what team you want to build with in dynasty mode. There are plenty of ways to go about doing it. You can try to sustain excellence with a traditional power, you can take a team from good to great, or you can try to do the impossible. With so many teams available, I have narrowed it down to 12...
I have picked three teams in each Power Four league that checks one of three boxes: Sustain Excellence, Truly Build or Biggest Challenge. All three entry points will give the user different experiences. Given what all three imply, you can derive satisfaction from being able to win prolifically in all three. Again, this is a dang vidya game, so nothing is truly impossible. This is not real life, folks!
While there are teams in each Power Four league that also fit into these three boxes, these are the 12 I would pick in each conference to see what can happen. Surely, you can try to do this with Group of Five powers, as well as teams that you did not even know were playing FBS football. Either way, it is great to have a college football video game back in our lives. You have so many hours to waste now!
As stated, I have a team in each category in all four Power Four leagues (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC).
- ACC
- Big Ten
- Big 12
- SEC
Let's start with one of the most intriguing conferences out there in the Power Four in the ACC.
Sustain Excellence: Florida State Seminoles
All things equal, Florida State should be the best program in the ACC. The Seminoles have the best football history, having won three national championships in the last 30 years or so. Although they hit a bit of a rough patch in recent years, Mike Norvell has that thing humming. I would not be the least bit shocked if the 'Noles won their first national championship under in him in the next four or five years.
Besides Norvell's coaching prowess and ability to recruit, both out of high school and in the transfer portal, I love Florida State in this spot for three reasons. One, there is so much talent and the surrounding states. Two, Florida State cares so much about its athletic programs, so it will be quite easy to get investment. And three, if the 'Noles were to switch conferences, they should be just fine.
We are talking about a top-five program in college football history, so this is not a big surprise at all.
Truly Build: SMU Mustangs
One team that has my intrigue in the ACC would be newcomer SMU. The Mustangs were a force to be reckoned with in the old Southwest some 40 years ago. A death penalty and a few conference changes later, and the ponies are back in a major conference. It may be a smaller private school, but SMU has big boosters and is in the heart of Texas. Being in Dallas matters a ton in SMU taking flight.
Under Rhett Lashlee, the Mustangs have an offensive identity, one that will be balanced and effective in its new league. In the ACC, I suspect that the Mustangs will soon dominate, especially if other teams leave for other leagues. Should the ACC unravel in a few years, it honestly wouldn't shock me if the Mustangs were to link up with the Big 12 and reign supreme. It'd be like the old Southwest days.
SMU is about to go from a fringe top-25 team, to being a top-20 program in its new league very soon.
Biggest Challenge: Virginia Cavaliers
If you really want to make things hard for you in the ACC, how about Virginia? There are other schools that might be as hard, if not harder. However, there is a unique combination that UVA possesses that most struggling Power Four programs simply do not have. It may be an academic power, but it is in a populous state, one with a ton of high school talent in the Tidewater Region. Use it to your advantage.
Virginia could conceivably switch conferences if the ACC does break out. It would fit in academically with the Big Ten, as well as regionally in the SEC. Heck, they could have a spot in the new Big 12, if that is what it ultimately comes to. I think the combination of recruiting, interest from other power conferences and the Hoos not being terrible not that long ago under Bronco Mendenhall all helps.
Virginia could go from a bottom-tier Power Four team to a top-25 program in a few years in this game.
Big Ten
Sustain Excellence: Ohio State Buckeyes
Ohio State is arguably the best program in the entire country. The Buckeyes have every resource readily available to them. They have big boosters, a passionate fanbase, a proud history and so much recruiting talent in-state. It largely drives itself. However, we are coming up on a decade since the last time the Buckeyes won the College Football Playoff. Fan or not of this team, there is reason to do this.
In a way, I think Ohio State is one of the few programs in the country that could conceivably break this game. With the right strategy, you could conceivably win every national title from here on out without much resistance. Even more so than with Florida State, it would be all about sustainability here. More importantly, I think it would be fun to win a multitude of ways with such a rich program like Ohio State.
The climb won't be anywhere near as fun, but who doesn't love winning every game under the sun?
Truly Build: Iowa Hawkeyes
This was one of the first teams I thought about potentially wanting to do dynasty mode with in this video game. Iowa has a fantastic defense and special teams, but man, does its offense stink to high heaven! Iowa has enough resource, rich tradition and a passionate fanbase to where it can go from upper-middle in the Big Ten to one of the teams that resides in the cream of the crop. It could happen.
Basically, by taking over at Iowa, you would be able to flush out whatever antiquated ground-and-pound offensive nonsense that Kirk Ferentz has been overseeing for the last decade-plus. It may take a few years to get it right, but with the right recruiting tactics, Iowa could be as strong in the Big Ten as Missouri has become under Eliah Drinkwitz in the SEC. The pay-off would be so rewarding.
Iowa could go from being a perennial 10-2 team to having Heisman Trophy winners under your watch!
Biggest Challenge: Indiana Hoosiers
If you want to take this game and spin it on its head like a freaking top, why not try to take lowly Indiana to the top of the college football world? I would say that of the 70-something Power Four teams that this is right up there with the hardest jobs on the planet. Indiana does not have a ton of talent in-state. Plus, Notre Dame and even Purdue have richer football traditions than the Hoosiers.
The good news is you really only have nowhere to go but up. Curt Cignetti has at least shown an ability to elevate the floor of the programs has as overseen. It is going to take a very, very long time to get ahead of every team in the recently expanded Big Ten, but it is possible, mostly because it is a video game. Honestly, taking Indiana to college football's summit is probably the hardest job to do.
Then again, the Hoosiers would have made the 12-team playoff as an at-large team back in 2020...
Sustain Excellence: Utah Utes
We are entering untrodden territory in the new Big 12. It is truly the wild west with Oklahoma and Texas leaving for the SEC. It leaves us with a power void at the top of conference, one that any number of teams could potentially occupy. For now, I would say that the infrastructure of newcomer Utah joining from the Pac-12 would be the one to check the box to hopefully sustain excellence.
Under Kyle Whittingham, Utah is built like a lesser version of Michigan under Jim Harbaugh, which was a lesser version of Georgia under Kirby Smart. You may have to dabble in the transfer portal, but any slight boost in recruitment out of high school could transform the Utes from being the best program that hasn't made the College Football Playoff yet, into one that regularly gets in in the Big 12.
You get the best of both worlds with Utah, as you can continue to grow, while sustaining excellence.
Truly Build: Texas Tech Red Raiders
There are a few hidden gems in the new Big 12. You could go in a lot of different directions, but the one that does it for me more than anyone else would have to be Texas Tech. In theory, you can take Joey McGuire's elite recruiting efforts and build a perennail contender over there in Lubbock. Under Mike Leach, we have seen Texas Tech be a force to be reckoned with, albeit briefly. It could happen...
With Patrick Mahomes having Texas Tech ties, that could help grow the brand even more. Since the Big 12 is far more winnable than most other Power Four leagues, year in and year out, there is a pathway where you could claim the power void for yourself and fill it with some Red Raiders tortilla-flinging nonsense. Plus, you could make the field of play be pitch black to freaking cook those things.
For The Spirt of The Pirate Mike Leach, I would love nothing more than to take Texas Tech to the top.
Biggest Challenge: Arizona State Sun Devils
Behold! The biggest sleeping giant in all of college football. Eventually, Arizona State is going to figure it out, but in the meantime, you can figure it out for them. There is way more talent in-state than the casual college football fan realizes. You can get players to transfer in quite easily. Although ASU is in the worst spot of any team in the new Big 12 right now, a lot can change in the matter of a few years.
Guys like Brandon Aiyuk and Jayden Daniels played at Arizona State not that long ago, so you can get high-end NFL talent into Tempe. With ASU being one helluva party school, just imagine what Sun Devil Stadium could look like during a night game in a matchup of top-10 teams. For administrative reasons, apathy rains on this program like a soggy dream in a land where it doesn't hardly ever rain.
Winning big at Arizona State is not impossible, but you are going to need to take your sweet time.
SEC
Sustain Excellence: Georgia Bulldogs
Of course, I was going to put Georgia here! It is my alma mater, one that has all the passion, winning and resources imaginable to win, and win prolifically, in perpetuity. With the dawn of NIL, Georgia has a more distinct advantage in the SEC over Alabama, due to their being far more Fortune 500 companies located in the Peach State. Of course, Georgia Tech is in Atlanta, but who cares really?
As with Ohio State, you might have the potential to break the game in dynasty mode with Georgia. If you want to win national championships with only defensive touchdowns, I think there is a way you can do it at UGA. If you want to throw for 6,000 yards in a season with your blue-chip, five-star quarterback recruit, you can most certainly do that at Georgia. Anything is possible with them Dawgs.
Beating the absolute snot out of everyone will be fun, but you might get bored with all the winning.
Truly Build: Florida Gators
Even if this is my alma mater's biggest rival, I think being able to take Florida from an inherently dysfuncational mess into a perennial national title contender once again could be a ton of fun. I would never personally do it, but I can certainly understand the appeal. You are in a talent-rich state, one with great football tradition. Yes, you have three other Power Four schools in-state, but whatever...
If you like to recruit and not hang out with sharks on fishing boats, you might have it in you to be this video game's version of Steve Spurrier or Urban Meyer. We can only hope that Washington or impromptu retirements don't come calling. Then again, you are in control, and you would love nothing more than to make Gainesville a thriving Floridian metropolis akin to say, Jacksonville in North Florida.
You can win prolifically at a place like Florida; you just don't need a buffoon in the rain at head coach.
Biggest Challenge: Vanderbilt Commodores
You know what? Why the hell not? I was alive at one point in my life where Vanderbilt was actually kind of good. That was when The Driver James Franklin was calling the shots in Nashville roughly a decade ago. Vanderbilt is a small private school, but it is in a talent-rich state in Tennessee. More importantly, this is an SEC program, one where they are getting so much revenue from distributions.
Instead of hearing every other SEC team's kickoff chant at ... FirstBank Stadium, I think, you can hear Anchor Down resonate throughout all of the Music City like a dang country concert at the Ryman. Either way, taking Vanderbilt from the bottom of the Cumberland River to the top of the college football world would be stunning. Honestly, I want to see you try. I might actually want to do this...
If you win multiple national title in a row at Vanderbilt, you have way too much free time on your hands.
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