Today, EA Sports

" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced that they are rebooting their college football franchise. This go around, the name seems to be EA Sports: College Football. No more NCAA branding it seems. Undoubtedly, this is amazing news for fans of the series. If they hit it out of the park, I think I'll finally be able to get rid of my aging Xbox 360 since I won't need to play NCAA Football 14 anymore. But there is so much EA could screw up here. So, let's look at the four features they absolutely have to have.

A Deep and Customizable Franchise Mode

Look, a lot has changed since the heady days of 2013. Ultimate Team was just a glimmer in EA's eye back then. Nowadays, it has morphed into the go-to mode for most players. However, EA Sports: College Football must capture the fun players had building up their alma mater into a powerhouse program.

Ultimate Team, as it functions in other titles, just can't capture the feeling of slowly recruiting better and better players through an intricate system. Nor does it allow you to build up a storied rivalry with other teams in your conference. For that, the team needs to put more effort into making Franchise Mode the flagship mode with the new title.

Capturing the Pageantry of College Football

One of the most important aspects of the old college football games was how well the team captured all the insanity that happens on game day. Not every team had its own custom chants and cheers, but they had a ton of it in the game.

The new game must bring that same energy to the table. It's one of the big things that set the game apart from Madden. You could feel how overwhelming The Swamp is. You knew you were in for a fight when you rolled into The Big House. EA Sports: College Football has to do the same.

Keep It Fast

During the course of the NCAA Football series, the games set themselves apart in terms of gameplay by providing a more arcadey take on football. With how far things have skewed toward simulation sports over the past decade, we could use a return to that style of gameplay.

It's also key that EA Sports: College Football improves on the blocking EA has in Madden. The college football game brings interesting takes on football with things like the option and the Wildcat being viable. If they don't fix blocking, those types of attacks won't work.

Let Us Build Our Own School

Arguably the most fun aspect of NCAA Football 14 was using the games' school builder to make your own school whole cloth. If you're like me, you built the worst team possible and then worked incredibly hard to turn them into a powerhouse program. If this new title doesn't let you do that, it'll be a big miss from EA.

Not only was it fun for all the fans, but there are still massive YouTube channels dedicated to building up schools in NCAA 14 to this day. If EA doesn't notice how popular that still is and capitalize on it, that can only be viewed as a failure from the studio.

While we don't have much info about the game just yet, I would expect to start hearing more about it over the next few months. If this is a 2021 game, it will likely ship in July. However, that's far from confirmed. Be sure to stay tuned for more news from EA Sports: College Football.