At a glance

• “EA Sports College Football 26,” the second installment since the franchise’s revival last year, released this week.
• NIU received a 7o overall rating, making the Huskies one of the game’s lowest-rated teams.
• Cornerback Jacob Finley is NIU’s highest-rated player at 83 overall.
• NIU’s game royalties will be determined by in-game popularity in usage.

DeKALB — The 2025 college football season is roughly a month-and-a-half away, with most teams still weeks from reporting for preseason camp.

However, for gamers across the country, the season is already underway on the virtual gridiron.

“EA Sports College Football 26” was officially released for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X’S on Thursday, though players who pre-ordered the game’s Deluxe Edition or MVP Bundle have had early access since Monday. The title is the second installment of the beloved video game franchise since its revival last summer following an 11-year hiatus.

NIU is once again included as one of the 136 Football Bowl Subdivision teams featured in the game. The Huskies finished last year’s College Football 25 with a 77 overall rating, including a 71 on offense and 70 on defense.

Unfortunately for them, the game developers handed out far less favorable ratings this year.

In College Football 26, NIU is rated 70 overall — tied with five other schools for the game’s third-lowest overall rating. Only FBS newcomer Missouri State (69 overall) and fellow Mid-American Conference members Akron (69), UMass (69), Ball State (68) and Kent State (68) are rated lower.

The Huskies’ 64 offensive rating is tied for the second-worst in the game — Kent State being the worst at 62. Meanwhile, their 68 defensive rating ranks among the 30 worst in the game.

NIU has two players rated 80 overall or higher in College Football 26. Redshirt junior cornerback Jacob Finley leads the team with an 83 overall. Behind him, sophomore running back Telly Johnson Jr. makes his “College Football” debut with an 80 overall.

Upon learning of the Huskies’ poor team ratings, Finley said the players weren’t particularly thrilled. Of course, it’s just a video game, and every rating is considered arbitrary until the first snap of the season. 

“You can’t let video games affect you,” Finley said. “I’m just going out there to play ball anyway. I really don’t care about the video game. It’s something to look at, but we’ve got bigger stuff to work on.”

Fortunately, NIU’s ratings aren’t permanent. Team and player ratings will change as updates to the game are released throughout the season. While it’s not known when College Football 26 will receive its first update, it’ll likely come sometime in August or September. Until then, the Huskies find themselves at the bottom of the barrel.

But what if that’s a good thing? What if NIU could actually benefit financially from being one of the game’s worst teams?

Paid to be played

One of the most popular game modes in College Football 26 — if not the most popular — is Dynasty Mode, which allows users to take control of a program as the head coach, offensive coordinator or defensive coordinator. Once a team is chosen, users can play a full schedule of simulation games while recruiting fictional high school players to keep their roster competitive — with the ultimate goal being to win a national championship.

In the “College Football” community, choosing blue blood programs like Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State in Dynasty Mode is considered a cardinal sin — unless you’re a legitimate fan, in which case it’s slightly more forgivable. Still, there’s not much of a challenge in starting off as a juggernaut, rolling to the College Football Playoff every year and winning virtually every recruiting battle along the way.

Instead, the more traditional approach is to choose a low-rated, low-prestige program and build it into a national powerhouse. This makes the game’s worst teams — like NIU — some of the most popular picks in Dynasty Mode. Though NIU won’t be as attractive an option as bottom feeders like Ball State and Kent State or FBS newbies Delaware and Missouri State, it’s still expected to see a boost in popularity. 

That bump could also be profitable for the university. In addition to more than doubling its names, image and likeness payments from $600 to $1,500 per player, EA Sports recently introduced a new royalty model that will pay schools based on their popularity and usage in the game.

According to a sample scenario from Cllct, if the total university pool is $5 million, if there are 700 million games played in College Football 26 and if 7 million of those games are played with NIU, then NIU would receive $50,000 — or 1% of the $5 million pool.

Last year’s edition shattered records, becoming the best-selling sports video game in U.S. history in only five months, with a reported 1.7 billion streams. Though College Football 26 may not match the lucrative success of its predecessor, EA Sports’ revised royalty structure could make NIU’s subpar ratings a worthwhile trade-off — at least for now.