Perhaps more exciting than EA Sports announcing a college basketball game is something fans have been suggesting for years. According to The Athletic's Chris Vannini, the six-year contract for a college basketball title only requires a minimum of three games produced in that time. In years a game isn't released, there would be a patch to download new rosters.
Huzzah! We have been saying for years that EA could and should take more time to work on its annual releases, and could fill the gaps with a roster update. If Grand Theft Auto can turn a profit dropping once every 15 years, surely EA can figure out a way to do so with its sports titles and their Ultimate Team modes.
This is the perfect game to do this with. Since EA plans to do rosters for men's and women's basketball, that's a huge undertaking. This deal was inspired by the reaction to College Football 25, and that game was good because the legal wranglings with the NCAA forced EA to go a decade without putting out a game.
The success of CFB 25, our anticipation for CFB 26, and now the reactions to the news about a college basketball game have serious "don't know what you got til it's gone" energy. I love my pro sports games, I buy almost all of them annually. But there's something about college sports. It's why everybody you know has a bracket in March, even if they don't watch basketball.
Here's hoping EA can capture this magic as well as they did with college football.