EA Gets Back Into College Football With Madden 22 Superstar KO Mode

EA is bringing back its college football franchise with a new release at some point in the future, but ahead of that, Madden NFL 22 is offering a glimpse at college football gameplay through a new mode in the professional sports game.

10 college football teams are now in Madden NFL 22 through the Campus Legends limited-time event for the game's Superstar KO mode. Of note, this is the first time since EA's NCAA Football 14 that a college football experience is fully playable in an EA title. Madden NFL 22's story mode does include some college football elements, but it's limited in nature. The Campus Legends event, meanwhile, lets you play real games against teams of your choosing and against other people.

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To promote the launch of Campus Legends, iconic college football players that went on to NFL careers, Vince Young (University of Texas) and Reggie Bush (USC), will compete in the mode at Rose Bowl Stadium inside Madden NFL 22. You can watch it live at 4 PM PT / 7 PM ET through the NFL YouTube Channel and Madden NFL Twitch.

The 10 teams in Campus Legends are:

• Clemson University
• University of Miami
• Louisiana State University
• University of Florida
• University of Oklahoma
• University of Texas
• University of Southern California
• University of Oregon
• University of Nebraska
• Michigan State University

Not only are these teams in Madden NFL 22, but their squads are made up of a roster of alumni, including the aforementioned Young and Bush, as well as Tim Tebow (Florida), JuJu Smith-Schuster (USC), Odell Beckham Jr (LSU), Adrian Peterson (Oklahoma), and Patrick Chung (Oregon), among many others. You can see the rosters for all 10 teams on EA's Campus Legends site.

The Campus Legends event runs until September 27.

As for EA's upcoming college football game, it might not launch until 2023. A big point of contention and uncertainty around it is regarding player names and likenesses. The NCAA recently approved legislation allowing college athletes to earn profits from their name, image, and likeness, and EA said it is taking this into consideration for its new game.

The game will feature over 100 teams and replicate their logos, stadiums, uniforms, and gameday traditions; however, EA is not working with the NCAA at all on the new game due to various ongoing lawsuits and these legal proceedings. This is also why the company is doing away with the "NCAA Football" branding moving forward.