EA Sports’ sophomore return to the college gridiron is here, and after a week with College Football 26, the verdict is clear: it’s fine. Not great. Not terrible. Just… fine. A perfectly okay follow-up to last year’s triumphant yet turbulent reboot.
When CFB 25 dropped, the fanfare was massive. After a decade-long hiatus and a legal gauntlet, the franchise came roaring back, only to immediately trip over its own cleats. Missing features, buggy simulations, anemic commentary, and undercooked game modes quickly cooled the hype.
I was one of the many caught in the hype. I reviewed CFB 25 last year and confidently claimed it was “better than Madden.” And hey, I stand by that — but let’s not pretend that’s a high bar to clear. Road to Glory mode felt like a placeholder, and Dynasty lacked even basic quality-of-life tools. Sim stats broke immersion. Chris Fowler’s voiceover — despite his public excitement — sounded like it was phoned in from a bunker. The hype of a franchise revival couldn’t mask the cracks in its foundation.
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