Nearing 11 years since the release of NCAA Football 14, college football fans eagerly await the first installment of the wildly popular EA Sports franchise since then, returning this summer.
For years, the EA Sports franchise allowed Maryland fans to take the program to new heights, winning conference and national championships, locking down five-star recruits across the board and building a powerhouse in a matter of weeks instead of years for the real program. For many, the return of the franchise will spark nostalgia, but will have new feels to match today's game.
Maryland football announced that nearly every player in the program has opted-in to the likeness agreement, meaning real names and builds will be put into this summer's game, rather than downloading a custom database like the old days. A Freedom of Information Act request by InsideMDSports yielded some key pieces of information regarding the Terps' look in the game this summer.
Uniforms
The Terps routinely benefit from having one of the more interesting looks in college football. Maryland's state flag uniforms were a constant in the final NCAA Football installments, spanning from the original pride uniforms all the way to red, white and black ops designs.
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During the 2023 season, Maryland strayed away from its flag-forward designs, returning to a simple design that included script 'Terps' helmets. In correspondences with EA Sports, the Terps put forward their entire uniform collection from this past season, including red, white, black and gold jerseys along with white, red and black pants. Documents dating back to June of 2023 include the red script Terps helmet as a "Must-have," but also included the airbrushed 2.0 flag helmet as well.
One change for the 2024 uniforms includes the Maryland 'M Bar' logo being added to the center neckline of each uniform.
Maryland will likely enter the first iteration with just its base selection of uniforms from this past season, leaving the door open to add alternate helmets and bonus uniforms if such are released for the team in the future. As of now, there have not been retro or flag-forward looks included in these documents.
Stadium
SECU Stadium, built in 1950, has its pitfalls, but also charm as one of the longer-standing on-campus stadiums in FBS football. The 51,802 capacity stadium has been through a couple name changes since last appearing in NCAA Football 14, but also has a number of key physical changes to account for since 2013.
Pre-Alpha WIP renderings of SECU Stadium include the new west end zone video board expansion, the completed Jones-Hill House and the new corner tunnel that features the shell players run out of. While the Terps' uniforms may stray away from featuring the Maryland flag, it is included in the SECU Stadium field rendering just like the real turf.
Testudo and More
Other assets sent to EA Sports by Maryland include numerous pictures of Testudo, Maryland's mascot, even including a picture in his gold rain jacket/hat outfit that gets broken out for wet games. Images of the band in the crowd provides detailing on their uniforms, while additional images of flags used on the field (State flag and school logo) were included as part of the cheer team.
Landmarks on campuses could also be taken into consideration when building out the broadcast and realism of EA Sports College Football 25, where Maryland leans into Testudo statues and McKeldin Mall. Two pictures each, one during the day and one at night, could allow for some cool shots outside of SECU Stadium, but remains unclear if/how these assets will be used.
EA Sports College Football 25 is expected to release in mid-July, with more official announcements coming in May from EA Sports.
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