EA College Football Team Builder: How to Rewrite History

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The history of college football dates back to well before the 20th century. One can imagine how much change happened in that period, specifically with colleges that chose to take the dive and create and develop programs. Currently, 858 colleges have football programs, from NCAA Division I to the junior college level, and many universities either had a program at one time or haven't had one at all.

Money, resources, student interest and administrative considerations play a part in decisions on whether to commence, perpetuate or discontinue a collegiate football program. However, football is a sport that is well-ingrained in American culture. Plenty of students, alumni and fans of the schools that don't have football teams wish they did, but most of those institutions do not have the resources and ability to build real-life programs.

However, opportunities exist in the video game realm to build programs that once were or should have been. EA Sports' Team Builder feature in College Football 25 supplies such opportunities. Gamers can create fantasy programs or rewrite history.

Below are just three of the many examples of college football programs gamers can bring back from the dead or bring up from the grassroots.

Example No.1: Wichita State Shockers

Today they are known for their basketball and baseball programs, but the Wichita State Shockers also existed as a football program from 1897 to 1986. They played in the Missouri Valley Conference and were crowned conference champions 14 times. They also made three bowl games and played the Kansas Jayhawks and Kansas State Wildcats as in-state rivals. The Shockers were the first-ever Division I football program to break the color barrier in coaching, hiring Willie Jeffries in 1979.

Tragedy struck the program in 1970, however, when a plane carrying about half the football team crashed on a flight to Utah to play against the Utah State Aggies, killing 31. This tragedy and internal turmoil decimated the program. The program folded 16 years after the plane crash.

Unsuccessful efforts were made to bring back the Shockers football program in the 1990s and the following decade. In 2012, a club-level program was formed, but with no official sponsorship from the university, it did not thrive. Wichita State remains the only school in the American Athletic Conference without a football program. Perhaps that circumstance will eventually incentivize a return of the university's football program.

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The Shockers are a perfect example of a program that can be resuscitated by Team Builder. With a cool black and yellow color scheme, a unique mascot, a history to their name and a pre-existing conference for them to jump right into, it is an ideal program to bring back via Team Builder.

Witchita State fans, alumni and students are interested in bringing the Shockers' gridiron program back in real life. Team Builder presents the opportunity to fulfill those desires in cyberspace.

Example No.2: Gonzaga Bulldogs

Believe it or not, the Gonzaga Bulldogs, another program well-known for their basketball, had a football team at one time.

From 1892 to 1941, Gonzaga sponsored a sanctioned football program. The Bulldogs went 134-99-20 in their 49-year history as an independent program, never joining a conference. The Bulldogs also made one bowl appearance in 1922 in the San Diego East-West Christmas Classic, losing to the eventual co-national champion West Virginia Mountaineers.

Gonzaga has a bit of history in their player ranks, with two Pro Football Hall of Famers—Tony Canadeo (1974) and Ray Flaherty (1976) as well as the grandfather of NBA great John Stockton, Houston Stockton, who was an All-American for the Bulldogs in 1924. Unfortunately, however, the program folded in 1941, due to financial difficulty and the outbreak of World War II. To date, there has been little discussion of resurrecting the program by the university administration.

While it may be farfetched to resurrect the Gonzaga football program in real life, it is possible in Team Builder. With the program boasting a strong basketball program, there have been talks of the Bulldogs joining the Big 12 Conference as a basketball-only member, but what if they could join in football as well? A gamer could keep them independent, include them in the Mountain West Conference or resurrect the Pac-12 Conference and place the Bulldogs there.

With Gonzaga's clean red, navy and white school colors and Nike sponsorship, creating uniforms would be an easy task in Team Builder. The interest in a Gonzaga football program comeback might not be too high in reality, but gamers could help garner that interest.

Example No.3: University of Missouri-Kansas City Roos

This one may be a bit of a head-scratcher to some as the choice for a college that has never had a football program, but the UMKC Roos could be an enticing option.

The UMKC student population as of 2022 is 15,715 according to US News. Most FCS programs fall in the range of 10,000-20,000 students, and some FBS programs have comparably sized student bodies. UMKC also has multiple Division I sports, competing in the Summit League and the Western Athletic Conference.

Kansas City is a booming sports town. The NFL's Kansas City Chiefs are a major draw in the city. With a population of over 500,000 and a fanbase rabid about football, the city is ideally suited to support a collegiate football program.

The Chiefs' Arrowhead Stadium is a pre-existing venue for gamers utilizing Team Bilder. Furthermore, the Roos have an appealing color scheme of light blue and yellow and an intriguing logo and mascot. Thus, the Roos are a great candidate for gamers to consider when using the Team Builder function.

Conference options for UMKC include Conference USA, the Big 12 and the Southeastern Conference. Perhaps CUSA is the best fit for a school that has never fielded a football program.

Rewrite History with Team Builder

Team Builder gives gamers many options. The three team resurrections/creations discussed above are examples of potential applications of the unique gaming tool.

Football is the brainchild of American ingenuity and imagination, just like these Team Builder teams. As the old saying goes: If you build it, they will come. Who knows, maybe you will be the one who builds the team that convinces a university administration to start a football program or bring one back. Stranger things have happened. Could you be the next great college football story?