What is your personal NCAA "ritual"

[Bruce Wayne Jr]

for me i always get my early ncaa release fix by buying the Athlon Sports college football annual/magazine. it usually comes out in june. when i see that i know it's time for ea football.

[boritter]

Re: What is your personal NCAA "ritual"

I also purchase one of the college football preview magazines as soon as it shows up in my supermarket. I continually read blogs about the Big 12 and NCAA in general so that I know who looks good in spring ball.

Finally, me and one of my college roommates get together on launch day and enjoy a great mix of food, caffeine, smack talk, and NCAA football.

[Bruce Wayne Jr]

Re: What is your personal NCAA "ritual"

I also purchase one of the college football preview magazines as soon as it shows up in my supermarket. I continually read blogs about the Big 12 and NCAA in general so that I know who looks good in spring ball.

Finally, me and one of my college roommates get together on launch day and enjoy a great mix of food, caffeine, smack talk, and NCAA football.

yeah the only thing i hate is that they restrict the cover guys to someone in your region. since i'm a fan of all college football, sometimes it would be nice to have a magazine cover of someone out west like when reggie bush played. i collect them over time. i actually still have covers dating back to peyton manning at Tennessee.

[The Gunslinger]

Re: What is your personal NCAA "ritual"

I also purchase one of the college football preview magazines as soon as it shows up in my supermarket. I continually read blogs about the Big 12 and NCAA in general so that I know who looks good in spring ball.

Finally, me and one of my college roommates get together on launch day and enjoy a great mix of food, caffeine, smack talk, and NCAA football.

I always pick up Athlon Sports' College Football Preview of all 120 teams, their SEC Preview, and NFL Preview

[The Gunslinger]

Re: What is your personal NCAA "ritual"

for me i always get my early ncaa release fix by buying the Athlon Sports college football annual/magazine. it usually comes out in june. when i see that i know it's time for ea football.

I think it might be out now. I haven't checked the grocery stores, but they do list it as available on their website

[DDP24]

Re: What is your personal NCAA "ritual"

Same here. I usyally buy Athlon's or Sporting News College Prewiew. It's nice how my region is always full of Trojans on the cover. I doubt it this year though. Probably Jake Locker.

[Bruce Wayne Jr]

Re: What is your personal NCAA "ritual"

Same here. I usyally buy Athlon's or Sporting News College Prewiew. It's nice how my region is always full of Trojans on the cover. I doubt it this year though. Probably Jake Locker.

him and the kid from Stanford

[Dr Death]

Re: What is your personal NCAA "ritual"

This year will bring about some new rituals. I'll buy whatever college magazines I find at the store, but on 13 July at midnight I will purchase the game, return home, and then...

Since I didn't buy '10 and barely played '09, I am going to download my TB team, then go straight to practice mode. I gotta get comfy w/ this locomotion. Also, it looks like maybe, just maybe, we will have a camera angle that allows you to see the flats when passing now...

So... practice, practice, practice... After I get comfortable there I'll go to Play Now and try some games w/ various settings. Hearing one guy lost 8-63 or whatever it was on Heisman gives me hope that this years game will actually be challenging and still rewarding.

Who knows how long it will take to find the proper sliders and get comfortable, but when that time comes I'll then start my dynasty and hopefully will be able to play 20-30 seasons and never lose interest.

[Tarheel]

Re: What is your personal NCAA "ritual"

for me i always get my early ncaa release fix by buying the Athlon Sports college football annual/magazine. it usually comes out in june. when i see that i know it's time for ea football.

Athlon is a must have for me (both NCAA and NFL). I usually get the game and just play a UNC "spring game" in exhibition mode just to get a feel for my team.

[LucianoJJ]

Re: What is your personal NCAA "ritual"

Phil Steele's magazine is the one I have purchased the last couple of years. It has a ton of stats and scouting info. The problem with it is trying to read his version of shorthand that gets published. He's not a journalist, he's a hands-on publisher, and overall football junkie. It's like Mel Kiper, Jr. having his own magazine.

Isn't checking OS for the latest info a ritual?

[Ziza9Noles94]

Re: What is your personal NCAA "ritual"

Read through/study Phil Steele's mag/formula; Pick up Sporting News mag for info on the lower divisions; Athlon for the pretty pictures. Play the heck out of the NCAA demo; spend hours in Teambuilder; make a trip out to the Doak to soak in the atmosphere; burn a Gator cap; rejoin the conversations with all my rowdy friends on Warchant; put on my throwback 16 year old torn Noles cap signed by Amp Lee and fire up the game, while waiting for the real season to start. This may also include playing Rufat's Seminole rap. May not.

[basebalnormy44]

Re: What is your personal NCAA "ritual"

Read through/study Phil Steele's mag/formula; Pick up Sporting News mag for info on the lower divisions; Athlon for the pretty pictures. Play the heck out of the NCAA demo; spend hours in Teambuilder; make a trip out to the Doak to soak in the atmosphere; burn a Gator cap; rejoing the conversations with all my rowdy friends on Warchant; put on my throwback 16 year old torn Noles cap signed by Amp Lee and fire up the game, while waiting for the real season to start. This may also include playing Rufat's Seminole rap. May not.

"burn a Gator cap"
Haha, classic.

[boomersooner31]

Re: What is your personal NCAA "ritual"

Pretty much get a preview mag to get ready for the real season and to start scouting teams to use for a dynasty. On gameday, haul a$$ to the store after work, and commence playing ALL NIGHT. Last year I lucked out and had Jury duty, so no work all day and I got out of jury duty late morning and played all afternoon. Once I get the game, I spent the week or so waiting for rosters messing around in practice mode to get used to the game and scouting out teams to use (base my dynasty team(s) on their uniform accuracy, conference, conference prediction (middle of the road team) and rankings). My first game is usually OU vs a crummy team just to get used to the game feel then I will mess around with potential dynasty teams in "play now" mode until I settle on one. Once I get my rosters...it's on.

[JerseySuave4]

Re: What is your personal NCAA "ritual"

Phil Steele for me. Although i did buy Athlon the last 2 years as well as another preview mag but both of them sucked compared to Steele's. Phil Steele puts out the best preview magazine of all. I go through his mag, then i usually pick out which 12 teams i'm going to use for my dynasty (usually the same 12 or so teams each year with only a few changes depending on the year). I also have gotten back into the swing of teambuilder making some teams although i have a lot of rosters to get done for that. Then when the demo comes out i'll play that.

[bh446066]

Re: What is your personal NCAA "ritual"

Athlon's, Lindy's and Phil Steele. I use Phil Steele as my roster bible when I'm making roster edits thoughout the season. It's a scribbled up mess by season's end. As far as my rituals, well, this will be my first current gen game, so I'm just going to have to get used to all the menus and such. I'll hit this site to see when rosters are available for download and when the imminent patch is released. I'll also do my yearly ritual and use this site for initial slider/settings research. Once I've got all this info, I'll be ready to finally start playing.