Video game and college football fans alike are rejoicing after leaks from photoshoots have confirmed the release of NCAA Football 26, the sequel to the highly anticipated college football video game for the Xbox Series S and the PlayStation 5.
The photo shoot, which resulted in the supposed cover art for the Deluxe Edition of the game, features Florida QB DJ Lagway, Alabama WR Ryan Williams, and Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith, among others, including several coaches and even a few mascots.
College Football 26 Photoshoot Gets Leaked
Anthony Miller’s Sports Illustrated article from March 13 shared details about photo shoots with players, coaches, and mascots participating in the event. Miller also shared Hayes Fawcett’s tweet about the game’s cover.
An early look at the EA College Football 26 Deluxe Edition Cover 👀
The cover consists of players such as DJ Lagway, Ryan Williams, Jeremiah Smith, True Freshman Bryce Underwood + more
Also features a few head coaches and mascots
(via tubbycfb/IG) pic.twitter.com/kE9TtniEk8
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) March 13, 2025
The 2026 edition’s initial announcement was made on January 16th, with a Fox Sports article saying, “EA Sports’ beloved college football game series won’t be hitting the transfer portal any time soon. College Football 26 will return for the 2025 season.”
First released in 1998 as Bill Walsh’s College Football, the game was an homage to the coach who won three Super Bowls with the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers in the 1980s.
The company ran into challenges just prior to the hiatus. College football players had challenged how their name, image, and likeness (NIL) had been used, as they had not given their consent for use.
NIL deals and the NCAA’s rules have changed now, with players signing lucrative NIL deals. Over 10,000 players signed a deal for the 2025 version of the game.
A recent On3 article stated, “EA Sports College Football 25 had already done $500 million in sales. In December, Circana video game sales data from November showed that the game had become the best-selling sports game ever released on the US market.”
College Football 26 Rumors
With the addition of several mascots in the leaked photoshoot, many are speculating that this may be a nod to a possible inclusion of “Mascot Mode,” a mode featured in earlier installments where players can play games between various teams’ mascots, such as Big Al, the Notre Dame leprechaun, or even the Stanford tree.
KEEP READING: EA Sports College Football 26 Road to Glory Details
Other rumored inclusions—that could very well still just be wishes—are the addition of a high school football prelude to the “Road to Glory” career mode, the ability to create and rename conferences, and the ability to make a new uniform in-game instead of the compute-base Teambuilder website.
Fox Sports also simulated the 2024 season 50 times in the game, including the CFP. They got Notre Dame and Ohio State to win in the semifinals.
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