Get ready for January 19, College Football 25 is coming

So this week’s edition of my “Chillin’ With the Fridge” column isn’t really about anything controversial, or at least I don’t think it is.

Instead, I want to talk about something fun and what I think is interesting.

As most of my dozens of readers probably know, I love playing video games. It doesn’t matter what genre, I just enjoy doing it in my free time.

One thing I’ve always enjoyed is sports games. Right now I’m playing MLB The Show 2024 and EA NHL 24.

I don’t know if I’ll pick it up when it releases on July 19, but I’m sure most video sports game players know that College Football 25 will be available that day.

Most fans are happy about it.

For the first time in 11 years, fans will be able to follow their college football schedule and play either online against others or like me when I eventually play there, follow a schedule and be guided in building and maintaining ‘a dynasty.

Some of you who don’t play might be wondering, okay, but why such a deal?

I don’t know about the others, but I have fond memories of playing college football back in the day.

It was always great to have both that year’s college football and that year’s Madden NFL.

Firstly, that’s a lot of football for one fan if you want it to be. One of the things I always loved was how you could import your college football draft classes into Madden and continue a player’s path to immortality.

Then there was the fun of playing with friends.

I was in college at the height of college football’s popularity and we were always playing games before class, after class, in the evenings, in the mornings, on the weekends, almost anytime.

Even after college, I still enjoyed it. I played a lot of them.

Now, after an 11-year hiatus, fans will be able to enjoy the fun again.

The college football video game has always been popular, so I’m not sure why it was abandoned all those years ago.

In the meantime, old copies of the games have become sought after by fans and collectors alike.

A practice followed by many video game players is trading in their old games in order to gain value over other games.

For this reason, many fans no longer have them in their collections, much to their regret.

What’s even more unfortunate is a quick inspection online at Ebay, Amazon, or one of those other sites to see how sought after these games are.

Right now, with the new iteration on the horizon, NCAA College Football ’14 is selling on Ebay for between $50 and $150, so if you’re missing college football in your collection and can remedy that, you I need to prepare the dough.

It was pretty crazy in the past to see how much money it made. Why the 2014 edition in particular? It is sought after because it was released on Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.

It can be played on the most recent systems, Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X/S thanks to backwards compatibility.

This is why an 11 year old game costs more than many shiny new releases.

Hell, if you got the $150 list, you’d pay about the same as the deluxe collector’s edition that comes out in July. This is the edition that will give you the deluxe college football game as well as the deluxe Madden 25 game.

One of the reasons I wanted to write this today is that I find it simply refreshing and beyond comical to watch the swirl of conversation around this game on the internet.

People talk about what they want to do once they get the game.

Most involve screwing up the University of Alabama in one way or another.

A guy posted about creating a player for Road to Glory mode (this is where you take on the role of a college player, navigating between practices, games, and college life), then see how point he can make it out before Alabama kicks him out of the program.

Another person posted that she became Alabama’s coach in Dynasty mode and started the program before being fired to take a coaching job at the University of South Alabama and beat the Crimson Tide in the opening game in Tuscaloosa.

Of course, I’ve read other things people have posted. Someone wants to start a program in Alaska and see how quickly they can turn that school into a national powerhouse.

There are many and I can share this enthusiasm.

Will I get College Football 25 when it releases? Probably not. I’m way behind schedule right now and I’m busy leading the Cincinnati Reds to an improbable division title and a World Series. (By the way, thanks to my friend Jason Daniels. I know he knows Braves pitcher Spencer Strider, and I just want to share that Strider is a 97 rated player on this year’s The Show).

I have access to Microsoft Game Pass, so more than likely I’ll wait until College Football is added to it and then play the heck out of it.

There are definitely advantages to being older and wiser than I was in college.