NCAA10 + SimCity 4 Dynasty
 

I'm thinking of creating an entire place and then having a conference of schools come from that place like I did with this scatterbrained dynasty some moons ago. Except this time, I'm saving the screenshots somewhere other than on a random domain of mine that might move, so the photos don't go away a year or so after I do it.
Because we have custom conferences and NCAA teambuilder, this appeals to me a lot more.

The alternative is to have a running high school dynasty and to ignore the colleges all together by taking over the Sun Belt or WAC and just fill a league full of cupcakes and report back the results annually without doing any recruiting or anything else.

I think that might be more interesting...especially since our better players might transfer to bigger schools and that could keep things super interesting and we can root for an entire league.

Let's try that, shall we?

We're going to replace the MAC with 12 teams from my fictional Jefferson map in SimCity 4. I won't do any recruiting, we'll just sim from year to year. All of the programs will be 2-star programs, because it keeps it interesting. The MAC Championship game will determine the state champion and we'll just ignore bowls and stuff like that, just using NCAA 10 for its sim engine.

Here are the teams in the Jefferson Metropolitan Athletic Conference (that play football)

The largest city in the state is Allison. The county has over 140k people. Its neighbor, Lake County has over 112k people. Here are the populations of the other towns. Hacienda is a CDP in San Alberto. I don't have any pictures of San Alberto yet, either.

Winchell County (20k)
Brennan (50k)
Evergreen (8k)
Shasta (62k)
San Alberto (77k)* fastest growing city in the state

Here are some visuals:

Here are the team unis:

Very cool. I love Sim City and this is really tempting me to play it all day today.

Three more teams to create and then we'll go from there. I'm not sure if I want to cover the communities more or just start playing and then give you more insight into the places. I'm still figuring this out.

That's pretty much my plan :)

All of the schools in San Alberto play at 68,000 seat CityBanc Field (it's Lincoln Financial), just FYI.

Here are the final three schools of the MAC:

Here are the divisions in the MAC, which correspond to school size. The Eastern Division is comprised of 1A and 2A schools, the western division is 3A and 4A schools. 4A is the highest level of football in the state.

Eastern Division
Governor (2A)
Condotti-Vanguard (2A)
Winchell County (1A)
Brennan (1A)
Simmons (2A)
Evergreen (1A)

Western Division
Lake City (4A)
North (3A)
Central (3A)
Hacienda (3A)
Metropolitan (4A)
Three Lakes (4A)

I think I'll root for Hacienda :)

There are 13 teams in the MAC, so I think I'm going to take over Conference USA. Not that it matters for this thing, but at least it has a championship game, which was the point.

I'm pretty happy with how their uniforms came out. Probably my favorite one, mostly because of the bad ass logo. ;)

Here's the first pre-season ranking from the Jefferson Times Daily for this season of Metro League football:
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I've taken over the entire conference, so I could ensure their schedules aren't polluted and that the game auto-recruits for the teams. All of the teams non-conference games will be against the stock FCS teams the game has and I believe everyone should only be playing an 11-game schedule.

I wasn't able to get all of the teams to not play college teams, just because of the way scheduling worked, so when they do play schools from out of conference that aren't FCS, I've tried to make it ones that are passable. Like Notre Dame (HS) or Rutgers Prep or one of the service academies.

Here are some shots of San Alberto:


North High School and its athletic complex are viewed in this photo.


Downtown San Alberto, where Central High School is located. You can see CityBanc Stadium too.



Hacienda is adjacent to downtown and you can see Hacienda High School near the left hand side of the screen (the white building is the "new" building on campus, the one next to it is the original HS)


Here's an aerial of San Alberto County:

Allison County is home to Metropolitan High School. The largest high school in the state, it's home to students from throughout the county, as well as feeders from Brook County and Lake County. The joke is, Brook County doesn't field a high school with football, because they can send their best athletes to Metropolitan instead.

The county is also home to Three Lakes High School, the only other football playing school in the city of nearly 200,000 people. Allison County houses Jefferson International Airport (JFA), as well.

Enough pictures for now. Let's get down to the football action.

Week 1 features a variety of out of conference games by most schools, but the highlight of the week is an early season title between #3 Lake City and #4 San Alberto North.

I didn't play any of the games this week, so no highlights, but I'll start highlighting a game of the week in addition to results.

This week's result indicate that North is sending a statement that they're for real and Hacienda's road to the state championship hit no skids as they piledrived Midwest.

Here's the Week 2 schedule
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We're going to head to Simmons to check out the game there against Hacienda. It should be a walkover for the Invaders, but fresh off a loss last week, perhaps the boys from Shasta County want to make a statement.

Hacienda 24 , Simmons 10
Going into this game, I wasn't sure what to make of Hacienda sophomore quarterback Jonathan Lawson. He barely edged out junior Ronnie Parham for the starting job this year and Parham has a better arm in my opinion. But in any case, Lawson did his job right in this drubbing of Simmons, going 7 of 11 for 159 yards and 2 TDs.

Here's a highlight from the game:


I was really impressed with Hacienda's running back Michael Byrd. It might have just been inferior opposition, but he was a beast. He ran for 104 years on 14 carries and a TD, but that understates his impact. If they're gonna win a state title, it'll be because Byrd runs them there.

Hacienda (2-0), Simmons (0-2)


Other scores:

I think this week, we'll check out the Rutgers Prep at Winchell County game. The story is, a Winchell alum is now the head coach at Rutgers Prep, so he arranged for a game between his old HS and the school he now coaches. Should be an interesting matchup to put it mildly, but I'd be shocked if Winchell County kept it competitive.

Here's the Week 3 schedule

Here's the Jefferson Times-Daily football rankings for Week 3

Winchell County (2-1) 21, Rutgers Prep 18

So I probably ought to eat my words. Winchell County is a lot better than I thought they were. But in a way, it shows how far football in the Metro League has come. Even schools that were once considered middle of the road can compete against strong out of conference schools.

They've got a pretty special kid at QB named Daniel Tyler, who can not only sling the ball, but run with it as well.

Watch his handiwork with the arm on this 56-yard TD pass to give Winchell County a 14-0 lead just before halftime.



Travis Crum, the running back, isn't too bad either. With the score 14-11 with about a minute left in the fourth quarter, Crum broke for a 28-yard rush to give the Farmers a 21-11 lead.



Rutgers Prep scored with about 29 seconds left in the game, to make it a 21-18 game, but it was too little, too late as the Farmers clinched the victory in a game that only they seemed to think they could win.

WEEK 3 SCORES
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Enough of the silly season. Gimmie some real action and adventure. Week 4 is the first time we get some real matchups amongst the various schools in the METRO League play. Check out these gems:


The rationale with the Rutgers Prep game was, why come all the way out here for just one game...I don't think this will end too well for the Argonauts of Rutgers Prep, though. I'm going to check out the Lake City @ Hacienda game, because I don't know that it'll be a slam dunk for the Invaders at home, but if so, it'll be a message to the rest of the league that they're not joking around.

Week 4 Results
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Full of upsets last week. Evergreen is the smallest 1A school in the state, Condotti-Vanguard is a dominant private school program in 2A. But that's why they play the games, I guess. Huge win for Evergreen though.

Rutgers Prep gives Metropolitan a loss that'll probably result in them having practice for seven straight days. Those coaches there hate to lose and I think the went into that game seeing what Winchell County did and assumed they could just muscle 'em. But it didn't work out that well for them.

I missed the Hacienda/Lake City game. But after seeing what happened, I'm pissed that I missed it. It looked like a real battle.

Lake City (3-1) 21, Hacienda (2-1)19

Hacienda scored with 1:47 in the 4th quarter, but failed on the two point conversion that would've tied the game, giving the Cardinals their 3rd win of the season.

Here are the conference standings after Week 4's action
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METRO LEAGUE STANDINGS

Western Division
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Central (San Alberto) 3-0, 1-0
North (San Alberto) 3-0, 1-0
Hacienda 2-1, 1-1
Metropolitan 2-1, 0-0
Three Lakes, 3-0, 0-0
Lake City 3-1, 1-1

Eastern Division
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Governor 3-0, 1-0
Condotti-Vanguard 3-1, 0-1
Brennan 2-1, 0-1
Evergreen 3-0, 1-0
Winchell County 3-1, 1-1
Simmons 1-2, 0-2

Week 5 GAMES
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Should be an interesting week as the METRO League season pushes on. We'll be heading to CityBanc Field in San Alberto for the rivalry game known as "The Battle Between Brothers" when North HS takes on Central HS.

Week 5 RESULTS
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I love this league. I mean, it's only been a few weeks and literally you want to see how the games emerge. When it looks like a particular school is going to emerge as the dominant one, you get another one reminding them of who's boss. It's an exciting time, especially for the first season, as we'll really have to see who emerges from the pack to the make the championship game.

The way state championships work in Jefferson is like this. Because so few schools play league football (most of the other teams are either club teams or import teams from California or Oregon that come over to play Jefferson schools) in Jefferson due to the cost, the division champions are combined class champions for football.

So the eastern division champ is crowned Class 1A-2A State Champions and the western division champ is Class 3A-4A State Champions.


Stay tuned for highlights from The Battle in San Alberto. I'm stoked to see what happens as both North and Central are 3-0 and 1-0 in the conference, so this game is a high stakes battle for title hopes.

Calling the North v. Central game a rivalry is probably giving Central way more credit these days. North leads the rivalry series 41-19-8, but the past eight meetings between the two teams have resulted in wins by the Wildcats.

So the buzz in the stadium that Central might have a shot was a bit...well, curious. But everyone believed that this was a different Central team, a different year and perhaps a changing of the guard of sorts.

And it was clear that North was the more talented team. But in the 4th quarter, after a fumble inside the red zone, North failed to convert and the score was still 13-7 in favor of the Wildcats with 41 seconds left in the game.

The Central run attack had been pretty neutralized all day, meaning that they had to rely on the air game to get themselves into scoring position where only a touchdown would do. They had no timeouts, either.

But on the first play of the drive, Central's QB Gemara Higdon threw a pick to North's Brett Motley and that about ended it right there, as he returned the pick for a touchdown. What it comes down to, is that North took Central pretty lightly and almost got beat in a game where the stakes were a lot higher than bragging rights. Higdon has a wet noodle for an arm and their inability to get downfield really hurt them, as North stacked the line and blitzed so much that the running game never got going and Higdon had no time to get comfortable in the pocket.



Final score: North (4-0) 21, Central (3-1) 7

CONFERENCE SCHEDULE (WEEK 6)

A trio of in-conference games this week for METRO League teams. Central, Governor, Metropolitan and Simmons are out of conference and the rest have byes this week.

Three Lakes (3-1) @ Evergreen (3-1)
Condotti-Vanguard (4-1) @ Lake City (3-1)
Brennan (2-2) @ Hacienda (3-1)

I'm going to check out the Condotti-Vanguard/Lake City game. I'm curious to see if Condotti-Vanguard is really as good as advertised this year.

Another week, another thriller. Condotti-Vanguard is good, but on this day in Lake City, the Cardinals were simply better.

The Knights failed to capitalize on opportunities including a missed field goal to end the first half. But nothing could prepare them for the botched play at the end of the game that was the giveaway for the Cardinals.

Lake City (4-1) intercepted a pass with about 23 seconds to go, to give the Cardinals a 7 point lead and with it, a 27-21 victory against the Knights of Condotti-Vanguard.



If Condotti-Vanguard (4-2) can keep their offense going strong and minimize mistakes though, they ought to be a factor in the Eastern Division race. By no means is their season over, in my mind, based on how they played here, they just went up against a strong Western Division opponent who took them to the test and came away with the victory on this night.

Rest of Week 6 Action
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Hacienda 27, Brennan 3
Evergreen 41, Three Lakes 14
Central 31, Gooley 6
Governor 31, Hamlet 3
Metropolitan 55, Midwest 7
Simmons 38, Mourning Hills 3

WEEK 7 RESULTS
North 59, Southern Hills 3
Governor 25, Evergreen 7
Simmons 24, Notre Dame 13
Winchell County 48, Midwest 10
Metropolitan 16, Lake City 10
Hacienda 35, Navy Prep 17
Central 23, Brennan 13

Week 8's games are all conference action.


We're going to check out the Lake City at Governors game, because I've never seen Governor and I'm curious how good they are.

After checking out the Lake City-Governor game, I have to say that my consensus is these private schools from 1A/2A are good. But they can't really hang with the defensive speed of the big schools and what they're bringing to the table. That's really the big difference I've noticed after having checked out a bunch of these games now.

Lake City beat Governor 34-28 in 3OT.

Three Lakes (4-2) 20, North (5-1) 17 (That's a huge win for Three Lakes, because San Alberto was starting to look like they'd run away with it.)

Condotti-Vanguard (5-2) 42, Simmons (3-4) 3

Lake City (5-2) 34, Governor (6-1) 28 3OT

Winchell County (6-1) 23, Central (5-2) 17

Metropolitan (6-1) 31, Hacienda (5-2) 28

WEEK 9 RESULTS
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Evergreen (5-2) 16, Brennan (2-5) 6
Metropolitan (7-1) 26, Governor (6-2) 16
Hacienda (6-2) 28, North (5-2) 9

(If Hacienda beats Central, they win the San Alberto City Championship. It's only awarded to the team that wins both games in a given year among the three of them.)

Three Lakes (5-2) 34, Simmons (3-5) 7
Lake City (6-2) 48, Midwest 6
Condotti-Vanguard (6-2) 31, Winchell County (6-2) 21

CONFERENCE STANDINGS (after Week 9)
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WESTERN DIVISION
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Metropolitan 7-1 (4-0)
North (San Alberto) 5-2 (2-2)
Lake City 6-2 (3-2)
Hacienda 6-2 (3-2)
Central 5-2 (2-2)
Three Lakes 5-2 (2-2)

EASTERN DIVISION
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Governor 6-2 (3-2)
Winchell County 6-2 (3-2)
Evergreen 5-2 (3-2)
Condotti-Vanguard 6-2 (3-2)
Simmons 3-5 (0-5)
Brennan 2-5 (0-5)

WEEK 10 GAMES
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Hacienda (7-2) 21, Central (5-3) 9

The Invaders are San Alberto City champions! They looked REALLY good all game. I mean, they ran the ball and passed it extremely well. Just a really well executed performance and a fun game to watch, too.

OTHER SCORES
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Brennan (3-5) 24, Southeast 3
Evergreen (6-2) 56, North Hamlet 0
Three Lakes (6-2) 24, Lake City (6-3) 6
North (7-2) 34, Metropolitan (6-2) 24
Winchell (7-2) 36, Notre Dame 9

WEEK 11 SCORES
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Winchell County (8-2) 24, Metropolitan (7-3) 17
Lake City (7-3) 35, Central (5-4) 7
Evergreen (7-2) 41, Simmons (3-6) 7
Three Lakes (7-2) 28, Hacienda (7-3) 21
Condotti-Vanguard (7-2) 34, Governor (6-3) 18
North (7-2) 34, Brennan (3-6) 0

WEEK 12 SCORES
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Brennan (4-6) 21, Simmons (3-7) 3
Hacienda (8-3) 24, Condotti-Vanguard (7-3) 22
Lake City (8-3) 35, Winchell County (8-3) 28
North (8-2) 27, Governor (6-4) 17
Evergreen (8-2) 28, Metropolitan (7-4) 21
Central (6-4) 24, Three Lakes (7-3) 16

We've got one week to go before the Conference Championship and we're deadlocked at the top of the divisions!

STANDINGS AFTER WEEK 12
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EASTERN DIVISION
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Evergreen 8-2 (5-2)
Condotti-Vanguard 7-3 (4-3)
Winchell County 8-3 (4-3)
Governor School 6-4 (3-4)
Brennan 4-6 (1-6)
Simmons 3-7 (0-7)

WESTERN DIVISION
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North 8-2 (5-2)
Lake City 8-3 (5-3)
Hacienda 8-3 (5-3)
Metropolitan 7-4 (4-3)
Three Lakes (4-3)
Central 6-4 (3-4)

WEEK 13 GAMES
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Winchell County @ Simmons
Governor @ Brennan
Central @ Metropolitan
Condotti-Vanguard @ Three Lakes
Evergreen @ North
East Plainfield @ Hacienda

I have no idea what the tiebreaker scenarios are, but if Evergreen and North both need that win and only one can get it. So there will be some sort of elaborate tiebreaker in the other division, depending on the winner of that game, I presume.

San Alberto North will take on the 1A/2A champions Winchell County for the Consolidated State Championship!

following, great work so far!

Damn, Hacienda missed out on the State championship. So close.

Choking on the Three Lakes game cost them. I mean, how do you manage to beat North and Central in the same year and then choke when you've got the driver's seat to the state title?

I was frustrated to see that.

I'm checking out the North v. Winchell County game. It's being played at CityBanc Field, which is probably ridiculously unfair to the poor schlubs from Winchell County, but that being said, so far...I have to say that North is really, really good. Like, better than any team I've seen this year.

Their running back Craig Dailey (So.) and QB Travis Dennis (So.) are the real deal and they just move around the field like it's no joke. Well except when Dailey isn't fumbling. He had the dropsies today, fumbling twice. But Winchell never capitalized on either of them.

After halftime, the score was 14-0 San Alberto North.