Published , by Donovan Erskine
Published , by Donovan Erskine
EA Sports College Football 25 sees the return of Dynasty, one of the most beloved modes from the NCAA series. As a coach, you step in to lead a college football program in a new direction. You can select any team to start with, but which schools are the best options? There’s little fun in choosing a powerhouse, where you’ll instantly be set up for success, so here are our picks for the best teams to rebuild in College Football 25.
Coastal Carolina’s bronze and teal color scheme makes for a gorgeous uniform and stadium combo. Unfortunately, the Chanticleers’ roster hardly lives up to the school’s elite branding. Sitting at a 73 overall, you can rebuild this team in your image. The school’s low prestige means it’ll be hard to initially attract blue chip players, but you can make due with a pool of three-stars, which there is no shortage of in the Carolinas. Winning cures everything, and it won’t take long to increase your program’s prestige and start receiving national attention.
Stanford University has not won a National Championship since 1940, when the United States was in the throes of World War 2. The program has finished under .500 every season since 2015 (save for an abbreviated 2020 season due to the global pandemic). With the level of prestige Stanford holds from an academic perspective (and even in other sports), this university is ripe for a rebuild. Playing in the PAC-12 means routinely facing off against schools like Oregon, Colorado, and Washington, but you’re in it for the challenge, right?
The University of Connecticut’s Men’s Basketball team is coming off back-to-back NCAA tournament wins. Meanwhile, the football program hasn’t produced a winning season since 2010, when it was still part of the Big East. Since then, Uconn moved to the American Athletic Conference and then eventually became an Independent. It’s incredibly rare for a school to boast dominant football and basketball teams simultaneously, but you could be the person for the job. Expectations are low, but you could completely flip the narrative of UConn football.
Sitting at a 1.5-star rating in Dynasty mode, East Carolina is among the lowest-rated squads in CFB 25. However, the school has excellent branding, and football is deeply ingrained in the culture of ECU. However, the university has never won a National Championship in its nearly 100-year history. It’s time for the Pirates to have their time in the sun.
There’s nothing more delicious than a good rivalry, and the Colorado State Rams have just spent the last year watching the nation crown its bitter rival, the Colorado Buffaloes, as the next big thing in college football. The Buffaloes are one of the highest-rated teams in the game, and even have their own unique touchdown celebration. There’s nothing the Rams would love more than to knock them down a peg or two. Show Travis Hunter and the Sanders family that you’re not the younger sibling in this relationship. You’ll be facing off against one of the sports’ most talked-about teams every season, and it’ll be a blast.
Okay, hear me out on this one. Yes, Alabama is one of the most dominant programs in the history of college football, and the school’s A+ prestige means you’ll be attracting five-star players from the outset, but there’s a lot of fun to be had here if you like to lean into the roleplay of Dynasty mode. Last year, Nick Saban retired as head coach at Alabama, concluding the greatest coaching career college football has ever seen. Could you imagine having to fill those shoes? Expectations quite literally could not be higher. You’ll have to bring your absolute A-game if you want to win over Alabama faithful and keep the folks signing your checks happy. There is no margin for error and a lot of glory to be earned if you can keep Bama on top.
Those are six teams that’ll be fun to rebuild in EA Sports College Football 25. Dynasty is a journey, and there’s plenty of fun to be had in starting from the bottom and methodically working your way to the top. Let us know if you take on any of these programs, or if you have rebuild recommendations yourself.