EA Sports College Football 25: How do the Heels factor into the hype?

In my 20’s, the thing I looked forward to most after One Shining Moment was getting EA Sports’ NCAA Football game. During the dog day doldrums of summer, I relished my archaic tradition of printing out (yes, on paper) the UNC roster for the upcoming season and manually typing in each player’s name before starting a new dynasty.

Then it went away….

The last NCAA football video game released by EA Sports was “NCAA Football 14,” which came out in July 2013. After that, EA Sports halted production of the game due to legal and licensing issues related to the use of college athletes’ names, images, and likenesses without compensation.

The O’Bannon lawsuit against the NCAA happened. NIL was enacted. And a resurrection of a college football video game was announced in 2021.

Finally, a few days ago, EA Sports released their reveal trailer for the College Football 25 PS5/Xbox video game. (Note the lack of NCAA in the title, which is interesting in itself.)

It looks amazing. So close to the real thing that it’s scary.

Alas, the UNC gridiron Tar Heels are not featured at all. It’s understandable that Carolina football doesn’t have the prestige of an Alabama, Notre Dame, or Michigan, and Tar Heel football has become a bit of a perennial letdown, starting the season strong only to tragically fall off toward the latter part of the schedule. But Pitt? Syracuse? App State? Why do the Heels not get welcomed to the jungle?

So many questions. Who will be the highest-rated UNC quarterback? Will the game feature the Heels’ patented fourth quarter Hell’s Bells/Can’t Be Touched mash-up hype video? Will Florida State’s attorneys be prominent on the sidelines? Will Dave Doeren say ridiculous a-hole things in the postgame locker room? In Dynasty Mode as Clemson, will the transfer portal be disabled (LOL)?

The highly anticipated return of the classic game will arrive in less than two months! There will be no more need for replacing “Omarion Hampton” for “HB #28” or “The Butcher” for “LB #25”.

Overall, a combination of legal, regulatory, and industry-specific factors paved the way for the return of EA Sports College Football. And I am here for it!