NCAA 04 Dynasty Simulation report 7+ years

[PGaither84]

Greetings everyone.

With my softmodded classic Xbox, I have been going through the various wonderful 6th generation sports titles. Today I bring you my observations and report on NCAA Football 04.

My first goal was to simulate multiple seasons and export draft classes for Madden NFL 2004. After having run through 7 seasons in an afternoon last weekend, I discovered that my work was meaningless. It turns out that Madden 04 for the Xbox had a known error that couldn't properly read the exported draft classes and that EA released an updated version of the disc about a month after it came out:

Spoiler

Thank you for contacting us about Madden NFL 2004 for the Xbox. We are
aware of the problem relative to the importing a draft class from NCAA
Football 2004 for the Xbox and want to rectify this problem as soon as
possible. In order to do so, please send us page 43 & 44 from your
Madden NFL 2004 Xbox manual with your complete shipping address written
on this page. Send original, do not send a photo copy. After Labor
day, a new disc will be sent to the address on this page (it takes this
much time to manufacture replacement product). This new disc will
resolve the problem. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you
for your time and understanding.

Send to:

Warranty
Electronic Arts
209 Redwood Shores Parkway
Redwood City, CA 94065

Well, that renders a complete NCAA 04 to Madden 04 Dynasty/franchise impossible for me. However, that doesn't mean that I cannot enjoy them individually.

My second objective was to control a 1 star program and improve them in a somewhat realistic fashion through limited recruiting and simulating each season. As someone born and raised in California, I chose the San Jose State Spartans

RECRUITING HOUSE RULES:
based on "NCAA Football 06 – Recruiting Guide" by Evil_Dave

6* prestige: If your program is at 6* for prestige, there are no restrictions. 5* prestige: If your program is at 5* for prestige, there are no restrictions. 4* prestige: If your program is at 4* for prestige, you may only pursue 5* recruits who are from local states/territories, or from Pipeline States. There are no restrictions on 4* recruits. 3* Prestige: If your program is at 3* for prestige, you may only pursue 5* recruits if they are from your home state. You may only pursue 4* recruits who are from local states/territories, or from Pipeline states. There are no restrictions on 3* recruits. 2* Prestige: If your program is at 2* for prestige, you may not pursue 5* recruits. You may only pursue 4* recruits from local states/ territories, or from Pipeline States, up to a maximum of three players. There are no restrictions on 3* recruits. 1* Prestige: If your program is at 1* for prestige, you may not pursue 5* or 4* recruits. You may only pursue 3* recruits who are from local states/territories, or from Pipeline States. If there are not enough local 3* recruits to fill the 12-player quota, you may pursue any 4* players from your home state, or from any Pipeline States, until the quota has been filled.

I created some additional house rules to increase the challenge and fun. I wanted most of my recruited players to be of the same star level as the prestige of my program. In NCAA 04, they show you the interest level of protective players in the form of a color coded bar. I ranges from:
black > dark blue > normal blue > dark green > light green

• If a player is one star above your program's prestige, they must have at least dark green interest in your school.
• If a player is two stars above your program's prestige, they must have light green interest in your school.
• If a player is three stars or more above your program's prestige, do not recruit them UNLESS that player was listed in the "interested prospects" page without you having done anything on your own - that player was fair game and really wanted to go to your school for some reason.
• If a player is equal to your program's prestige, do no recruit any lower than normal blue interest.
• If a player is below the star rating of your program's prestige, don't go after them unless they at least have dark blue interest in your school. The purpose of this rule is to prevent you from creating pipeline states by hunting down uninterested one star recruits from out of state and just throwing around your 3+ star prestige to attract them.

To me, these rules don't need to be memorized or so complicated. Just use common sense and logic. Go after young men who already want to attend your school and fit the level of your program.

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Custom schedules
I tried my best to use the real life schedules the San Jose State Spartans - within the limitations of NCAA 04. Some times teams were simply unavailable for reasons outside of my understanding. For example, I could rarely find a time/place where I could schedule the Utah State Aggies. they just wouldn't appear in the list no matter which week I opened up some years, while other years I could. Similarly, UC Davis isn't in NCAA 04, but Sacramento State is, so I would schedule them instead. Finally, in real life, teams have changed conferences and I would be locked into playing against teams who were no longer in the same conference as the Spartans a few years into my Dynasty. I did the best I could under the circumstances.

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The roster
The starting roster was loaded with Senior and Junior players. There are no Freshmen or Sophomore players on the roster to begin the dynasty, which makes year on and year two recruiting extra challenging with many positions to fill.

The best player on the team is an 85ovr DE. a few players are in the mid to low 70's and most are in the 60's and below.

Each year it is my goal to always add one QB, one HB, one WR, one CB no matter what the rest of my roster looks like. Between the ability to red shirt and outright cut players, it is important to get a lot of depth and turnover at these positions.

At TE, I cannot recruit one every year, though I try to carry at three each season. This forces me to skip a TE once every two or three years.

At the other remaining positions, my goal is to recruit one every other year. If an elite player at a given position appears, I do not mind going after them and making a needed cut to make room to keep them.

This is the ideal scenario, which is difficult to attain for a roster lacking freshmen and sophomores. When the seniors graduate after year one, I will be stuck with a roster full of freshmen and seniors for year two. To start year three, I will have juniors Sophomores and freshmen without any junior or senior leadership. It will not be until year four that i will finally have a balanced and ideal roster of players regardless of their talent level.

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Ideal player traits and measurables

The following statements are true:

• The more athletically gifted players are "ideal."
• As a one star prestige program, "beggars can't be choosers".

That being said, when I do have a choice between interested prospects, I favor those with a higher GPA than those with better athletic attributes and measurables. If one player has great size and is a workout warrior but has a 2.0 GPA, I will not pay as much attention to them as a player who has a 2.59+ GPA and lower athletic skills. Especially in the early years of the program.

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Year 1

Spoiler

Just as in real life the Spartans would only win two games.

Three 2* prospects were interested in playing for us. the rest of my recruiting class were all 1* prospects. year 1 was about filling out my roster with freshmen who best fit the attributes I valued most. Tall WRs, CBs and TEs, smart and fast defenders over strength. Accurate QB over arm strength. Offensive linemen and TE with the best squat numbers.

Going into year two my team's ceiling was lower, as several talented seniors had graduated, but my floor was much higher. My worst freshmen were better than the worst juniors I started year one with.

Year 2

Spoiler

A 4 win season.
Two 3* prospects were interested in my program. I was also able to add an additional three 2* prospects. The rest of my class were made up of 1* prospects who matched my recruiting goals.

My ceiling continued to lower, as my best players entering year three were much worse than the best players I began year one with. This was expected, as they were all only my returning sophomores and my incoming freshman class. However, my floor was significantly higher. football is a weak link sport, and your success is often determined by how well your worst players contribute. This would play itself out in year three.

Year 3

Spoiler

Despite not having top end talent equal to that of where we started year one, the consistent depth of our roster saw the Spartans win 6 games in year three.

My coach was offered a three year extension, and I would always decline new job offers, as the goal of this Dynasty was to play and improve the Spartans, not focus on the career of the coach.

Our program prestige was increased to two stars.

2* players are now our base line for recruiting. 1* players will fill out needs. 3* players are our objective. There were no 4* players were interested in our program, and that is alright. It is too early for that anyway.

In the end, we had a good balance of about four or five 3* prospects and the rest were all 2* with the exception of two or three 1* spots.

Year 4

Spoiler

With a more difficult schedule and most of our best prospects as freshmen, we fell from a six win team in year three to a 4 win team in year four.

Despite only 4 wining 4 games, we remained a two star program. Several of our losses were by one score (7 points or fewer) against some very talented programs. My coach was also given a five year extension offer which I accepted.

To begin recruiting, a 4* Defensive end prospect would place my school as the second place school he was interested in attending. This defensive end would eventually win the "Defensive lineman of the year" award and enter the NFL draft after his junior year - my first and only NFL prospect in the seven years I have so far simulated. However, he is still a freshman as of this off season.



I would recruit three more 3* prospects, six 2* prospects and 11 1* prospects this off season. our school would be ranked as the #63 class in the nation.

Year 5

Spoiler

back to a six win season! We remain a two star program which tries to mirror real life schedules while also maintaining a "strength of schedule" equal to our program prestige of two stars.

Two 5*players were interested in my school as a top three choice and i was able to land one of them. i remind you, i am not targeting these players. They appear in the "interested prospects" page at the start of the off season, and who am i to turn them down?



Two 4* players also showed, and another appeared under the "interested" page in week 3 after I was able to get commitments from the 58 and other 4* prospects. Getting such commitments must have raised the interest of that other player and i was able to bring in a nice haul.

In addition to those notable players, i also landed ten 3* prospects, four 28 prospects and a pair of 1* prospects - giving our school the #28 ranked recruiting class in the nation.

Year 6

Spoiler

7 wins! 3* prestige. A job offer to coach the Memphis Tigers (3* program as well) which I declined, and my starting FS won the Jim Thorpe Award.



Not a single 5* or 4* player showed any interest in our program for some reason. However, as a newly minted 3* program, I had no reservations in recruiting 4* prospects who had my school as a light green interest and was still able to land five of them in total.

The remaining recruiting class consisted of eight 3* prospects, four 2* prospects and an additional five 1* star prospects - which saw us repeat as the #28 ranked recruiting class in the nation.

In preseason polls before the start of year 7, our team would be ranked #50 in the nation with letter grades of B. Our offense and defense were both B- and our special teams a straight B.

We made sure to have a 3* strength of schedule, which included facing #5 UCLA.

Year 7

Spoiler

Another 7 win season. More importantly, we were given our first bowl invitation: The Hawaii bowl vs Southern Miss (7-5), which we would go on to win! Make it an 8 win season in that case. We would remain a 3* prestige program





What stood out to me through all of this was that Fresno State has quietly been building a power house of their own. they began the year ranked #15 in the nation and led an undefeated season into a bid for the 2009 national Championship, which they won. Before losing to them in the regular season, our San Jose State Spartans were also undefeated and ranked #24 in the nation. Even in our losses, the Spartans kept most games close.


The day grew late and I grew tired of simulating my games. I saved before the start of the off season for year 7 into year 8. Sunday morning I turned on Madden after breakfast and listening to the pregame shows for the upcoming NFL games when i discovered that all of my exported draft classes were useless.

A combination of that set back, my desire to mess around with Madden, watching the NFL, and my work/family duties has prevented me from continuing my San Jose State Spartans Dynasty.

The first major hurdle of my dynasty was simply keeping my job and overcoming a top heavy roster of seniors and juniors. The next phase was increasing the program prestige and earning a minor bowl invitation, which we have accomplished. The third stage in our development is maintaining the level of success we have attained and competing with the other major schools in California for talent and prestige.

EDIT: I notice that I had taken a picture of the interested prospects.

We have a 5* QB interested in our school. that is a potential NFL caliber QB who wants to lead our team and can help us become a 4* prestige program as we near a decade of progress. Even if we can't convince him to come, we also have a pair of 4* QBs who would like to play for us as well.

As a 3* prestige program, this is exactly the kind of upward trajectory and leadership we need on the field to take those next steps.