A new report from Insider Gaming‘s Mike Straw claims EA and Take Two have each had internal conversations about separate collegiate basketball series. Both companies have a history at the college level. For EA, their franchise has been at slumber since NCAA Basketball 2010. 2K’s College Hoops died with College Hoops 2K8, and there’s been no sign of a comeback until now. Why the renewed interest? EA’s College Football 25. The revived series was all the talk for sports fans over the last year.
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A ten year drought between entries had left fans thirsting for something new, and its sales numbers were staggering as a result. At the time of writing, College Football 25 is the best selling U.S. sports game in history, and will end the year as the highest selling domestic game of 2024 (if the current projections hold up.) Collegiate basketball isn’t as hot of a ticket, but it doesn’t need to be in order to be a success.
Both EA and 2K previously cited poor sales as the primary factor behind shutting down their respective collegiate hoops franchises. The two had battled it out for years, vying for control of a smaller market than their NBA-based titles had to offer. That would once again be a major concern if both parties are indeed interested in getting back into the scene. However, the playing field is much different these days. The NBA 2K series has exploded in popularity in the years since. EA’s NBA Live suffered two cancellations in that time, and has been radio silent since development was halted on NBA Live 20. Take-Two would certainly have the name recognition advantage in this new era, and could likely use the skeleton of 2K as a starting point; EA on the other hand would be picking up from scratch.
One thing is clear either way: no matter who takes the leap, a college basketball game is still quite far away. The NCAA’s Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) rules mean the student athletes involved would be entitled to a payday for being included in a game. EA has some experience with that already thanks to CFB 25, but NCAA basketball is a different beast. There are 364 Division I teams to account for—nearly double the amount they worked with in the FBS subdivision of college football. More teams means more work to be done (and more athletes to be paid).
NCAA Basketball teams roster a maximum of 15 players. That’s just a fraction of the 120 players per roster allowed in football, but adding schools means adding logos, jerseys, arenas, and more. That’s a lot of effort no matter how you split it.
Still, this is the first good news for fans of college basketball games in years. Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin was the last collegiate basketball cover athlete. He’s gone from rookie to superstar to retiree in the time since we last got our hands on a game. It’s far past time to make that right.
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