It's MVP Baseball '05 with college players. And that's a good thing.
In saying that, I have always loved the MVP gameplay engine. Since MVP Baseball '04 I have been a HUGE fan of EA's baseball games. Does the college game hold it's own against the pro games? Yes and no. I am also a fan of EA's NCAA Football franchise. And even the college basketball game works in the area I am about to bring up: college sports atmosphere. NCAA Baseball '06 has little to none of that. What you have here if a minor league version of the pro MVP games. While in most cases that would be a bad thing, the gameplay from the MVP games is so strong that it's not.
MVP Baseball does just about everything right. It's nice to look at. The announcing is top notch with Mike Patrick. The franchise mode is the best in the business. Recruiting players is done perfectly. There are really fun mini-games you can play. The actual on the field gameplay is easily the best baseball in videogames. The list goes on and on. The only problem with the game stems from a lack of college atmosphere.
While playing the game, you get a feeling you are playing a minor-league baseball game not college baseball. Well that's if you take away the 'ping' from hitting a ball of course. The stadiums are very bland and you don't get much atmosphere from the fans or the look of the parks. There is no college band music to speak of. I have to admit, even though I am the biggest pro baseball fan you will ever meet, I know nothing about the college players. If you would have came to me before this game came out and asked me to name one college baseball player, I would have came up blank. I think that would be the case for a lot of people and that is ultimately what hurts this game. Unless you take the time to edit all of the names in the game, you will be playing with a bunch of random or nameless players.
But don't let what I just said sway you too much. This is still a great game. I hope EA comes back with another game next year and beefs up the presentation (having ESPN is not enough). If they do, this could be a yearly addition to my gaming collection. Because gameplay is really where it's at in sports games and MVP NCAA Baseball has it in spades.