Five features for Michigan fans to look for in NCAA 24
The last time college football had a video game they chose to honor Michigan legend Denard Robinson on the cover.
Good call.
This time, with a decade of football since the last game, there’s no telling who will be on the cover. Blake Corum, J.J. McCarthy, and Will Johnson are all unironically realistic possibilities, but so are Joe Burrow, Johnny Football, Lamar Jackson, Baker Mayfield, and many, many more.
Regardless of who gets the honor (and this time, paycheck) of being the face of the game, Michigan fans should be excited to buy it. Here are five specific features that will alter the user experience.
How's the NIL?
This is the biggest one and it’s not particularly close. NIL will be a part of the NCAA 24 game, but exactly how much will it effect recruiting and roster retention? If the game is 100% realistic (which hopefully it won’t be) then poaching and recruiting will be done mostly through NIL checks.
Of course, this would be disastrous for Michigan if the Wolverine’s financial backing is accurately displayed. In theory, Michigan could be one of the strongest NIL forces in the college game, but various things have held them back from
Is there a legacy team?
This would be so much fun… even if the roster only dates back to 2014 when the game last came out.
Imagine being able to play with Jabrill Peppers, Aidan Hutchinson, Rashan Gary, Dax Hill, Junior Colson… you get the point. Michigan’s defense has been pretty much elite every season over the last decade, so being able to compile an all-star team would be simply scrumptious.
If course, this also means that a lot of the players from the early Harbaugh years would finally get to beat Ohio State after getting robbed by a poor spot. A small cosolation prize, but would be fun nonetheless.
What game-day traditions are involved
The M-Club banner is a must, but how about Mr. Brightside or the Wolverine stormtrooper? Of course, every school will want their own personal flare included, so it will be interestesting to see exactly how much culture is captured across the CFB landscape.
Another neat feature for teams that use individual helmet stickers would be the ability to assign them to players in career mode. Being able to fill up the helmet of your favorite five-star recruit would be a sick addition.
OOC scheduling
Michigan currently has a pretty awesome out of conference lineup on the horizon with Oklahoma and Texas over the next four years.
But what if they took it to the next level? Scheduling Alabama, Georgia, and Florida State would be pretty awesome, especially if it’s a guarantee that you’ll beat them every year. Or what if you have a friend that went to an out of conference school? You could thrash them week 0 every season send your buddy a reminder of who sits on top of the college football world.
Conference control
Imagine being able to scramble the conferences into whatever you’d like. Wanna see a 25-team super conference? Sure. How would Michigan do in the SEC? Let’s find out. Want to banish Michigan State to the MAC? Go right ahead.
This feature would be cool to play around with. You could send the Wolverines anywhere and essentially create whatever your dream conference would be. Also those Notre Dame traditionalists would finally have to play a real season.
