One of Tennessee Vols fans' new favorite traditions appears set to be in EA Sports College Football 25
Details continue to slowly trickle in regarding the upcoming EA Sports College Football 25 and the Tennessee Vols' inclusion in it. Obviously, the program will be in it. We know as of today what the uniforms and stadium will look like. We also know that Vols star QB Nico Iamaleava has opted in and will […]
Details continue to slowly trickle in regarding the upcoming EA Sports College Football 25 and the Tennessee Vols' inclusion in it. Obviously, the program will be in it. We know as of today what the uniforms and stadium will look like.
We also know that Vols star QB Nico Iamaleava has opted in and will be included in the game.
What's not known is just how much attention to detail the EA Sports production team has put into the Tennessee and its traditions. EA Sports did not include the Vols much as part of their introductory video. Two quick half second clips of a player and Smokey. As such, no one knows if we'll see the team run through the T, if they'll hit the "I will Give My All for Tennessee Today" sign.
However, according to an ESPN article, it appears as though one of the program's newer traditions will indeed be a part of the game. ESPN Staff writer Michael Rothenstein spoke with EA Sports program director Christian McLeod, and Rothenstein indicates that McLeod and his team have taken crowd patterns into consideration, including Neyland Stadium's checkering of the fans.
Understanding the crowd's importance to college football, McLeod said he knew they had to "make sure that crowd looks amazing." Are the bands in the right place? The visitor sections? The patterns some schools have within their crowds — think Tennessee's Checkerboard and Penn State's White Out games. The design team entered the empty virtual stadium and tagged where everything would be, a process taking multiple weeks. – Michael Rothenstein, ESPN.com
Checkering Neyland has become a very popular recent tradition. It started in 2014 when Tennessee played Florida. The Vols kept it going the following three seasons against Oklahoma, Florida, and Georgia before taking a three-year hiatus. It came back in 2021 against Ole Miss. The last two years have been particularly kind to the Vols before a checkered crowd. Tennessee defeated Florida 38-33 in 2022 and stopped Texas A&M 20-13 last year.
Fans want the game to capture the best that their school has to offer while providing as realistic as possible of a gaming experience. It appears as though EA Sports has done at least one thing to make that a reality for Vols fans.
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