EA Sports delighted video-game fans last July with the release of “College Football 25.” Now, the company might try to recapture that magic with the return of another beloved sports franchise.
EA Sports sent out a cryptic tweet Monday teasing the return of its college basketball video-game franchise.
The tweet didn’t exactly confirm the series — known as EA Sports’ “NCAA Basketball” — would return, but it seems pretty likely. Why else would the company tweet about a long discontinued game series?
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Multiple reports suggest the series is aiming for a return in 2028. Roughly 730 teams are expected to be included, as the game will look to include both men’s and women’s players, per The Athletic.
EA Sports’ “NCAA Basketball” was a series of video games the company put out regularly between 1998 and 2009. It was known as “NCAA March Madness” the first 11 years of its existence before adopting the “NCAA Basketball” branding in its final two years.
If you want to feel old, the last athlete to grace the cover of “NCAA Basketball” was Blake Griffin. The Oklahoma star appeared on the cover just months after the Los Angeles Clippers made him the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft. Griffin hasn’t played in the NBA since the 2022-23 season, which gives a sense of how long the “NCAA Basketball” series has been on hiatus.
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The successful return of “College Football 25” may have played a role in EA Sports reviving its college basketball series. “College Football 25” received an 83 rating on Metacritic, a strong figure for a sports game.
That represents an increase over “NCAA Basketball 10,” which received a 75 on the website before EA Sports discontinued the series.
