Monday, July 7 marked a national holiday for college football video game enthusiasts as they finally were able to grab the controller and play EA Sports College Football 26.
Since April, fans of the iconic video game franchise have been clamoring for the next installment following the rousing return in 2024. EA Sports has spent much of the buildup advertising the new features to the game that should make it feel like an upgrade from the previous edition, giving hope the series can remain one of the top sports video games.
Even though early access just started — the standard release date in July 10 — there’s already noticeable changes that give optimism of this year’s game. Players have noticed several things they like, but here are the top ones so far for EA Sports College Football 26.
Big game atmospheres, presentation
College football is electric, and it must be translated in order for the game to feel authentic. Of course, not all matchups are the same, but when there are high stakes involved, players know it. Night, rivalry, highly ranked, conference title and College Football Playoff games have a different feel with louder crowds and star players in the spotlight, providing the best the sport has to offer. Mix that in with traditions like Virginia Tech’s ‘Enter Sandman,’ Michigan’s ‘Mr. Brightside’ or Alabama’s red LED lights and it either hypes up the home team, or could have the road squad feeling nervous.
The game presentation itself also got a big boost, with transition screens of the teams, player stats, rankings and rivalry history. Plus, the score bug is an upgrade, something that’s clearly hard to do in the real world.
Smoother gameplay
You don’t need to be a true X’s-and-O’s savant to play this game, but football nerds will enjoy being rewarded for knowing ball. There’s plenty of coaching adjustments players can — and should — make in the game.
Notice you keep getting beat on slant routes? You can adjust your coverage to stop that. Going against an inexperienced offensive line? Turn up the defensive pressure with blitz packages and stunts to get to the quarterback. In return, the computer has gotten smarter. If you keep running the same plays, it will pick up on it and stop it, forcing players to get creative and be more balanced to win.
Substitutions is also easily accessible in the pre-snap menu, making it easier to manage hurt players and guys that are hot while saving so much time from having to pause the game to make any roster changes.
Road to glory high school experience
High school is now in road to glory, and while people are upset you can’t play a full high school season, it’s still an upgrade from last year. The moments users have to play to secure scholarships and interest from schools make it a real challenge to get the career off to a good start, rather than just tearing up the high school ranks.
The experience is extremely unique to each career. A school could have interest in a dual-threat quarterback, but it might not again if it already got a commitment from the same type of player in another road to glory mode. Last year, it wasn’t much fun to just pick what type of recruit a user was and then start college with that. In the high school moments, it’s possible to go from a two-star to five-star, or even go down and schools lose interest. While deflating, it shows how tough football can be when a team decides to pull a scholarship offer.
The commitment ceremony with the hats is also a genius touch.
Real-life coaches add massive layer
So long generic names and faces, as actual coaches in the game not only makes the game feel more real, but also makes it fun in certain modes. Not all of the real-life coaches are in the game, but players will notice coach tendencies, like a play caller that loves to gamble on fourth down or is pass heavy.
In road the glory, it feels legit when Ryan Day reaches out to you about wanting to see if you got what it takes to be a Buckeye.
The best part about it is in dynasty mode. Trying to recruit against big-name coaches makes it more personal and satisfying when getting that commitment. Then there’s the coaching carousel, which goes absolutely insane in the offseason with changes you wouldn’t expect to actually happen. Example: after the 2025 season, Lane Kiffin became the head coach at LSU after Brian Kelly was fired, Dave Aranda is at Florida State and Kyle Wittingham didn’t retire — he took the job at Southern California.
Talk about video game madness.
Transfer portal craziness
Building off the wild coaching carousel, the transfer portal turns out to be just as chaotic. It’s extremely unpredictable, as there’s no telling who will be wanting to leave your school, and who will be looking for a fresh start. In one offseason, DJ Lagway decided to leave Florida after he was a Heisman Trophy finalist, and star defensive end Colin Simmons decided to leave Texas — after leading the Longhorns to the national championship.
It makes it that much more important to figure out player desires and who to prioritize to make sure a key contributor doesn’t jump ship, while making every offseason as exciting time period to stack or rebuild a roster. How crazy the transfer portal gets can be adjusted before a dynasty begins, but even leaving it as is could lead to some pretty ludicrous results.
Bonus: Home screen isn’t annoying
This one is so good, it had to be included. The repetitive, rage inducing generic drumline music is gone from the main screen menu, and now there’s a fresh selection of music to change it up and keep people from losing their minds while recruiting or upgrading their road to glory players. Some fight songs are in, and some marching band covers of songs like ‘Runaway Baby’ and ‘Industry Baby’ will play, alongside a wide variety of generic songs.
Now, it won’t be as bad after suffering a heart-breaking loss.
The biggest stories, every morning. Stay up-to-date on all the key sports developments by subscribing to USA TODAY Sports’ newsletter.