What happened when a simulation was done on the new EA Sports College Football game for the 2024 season? Well, Yahoo Sports did just that, with some rather funny results.
Yahoo Sports conducted three separate year-one simulations of dynasty mode, with recruiting and other variables all set to simple. Since no actual coaches were in the game, there was no information on hirings and firings.
Looking at conference champions from the Big Four conferences, Georgia was the only team to win in all three simulated seasons. Something they were close to doing for real last season, losing out to Alabama in the 2023 SEC Championship Game. Oregon State won the Pac-2, as we call it now, all three times.
The ACC had three different winners: Clemson, Florida State, and Louisville. The Big Ten Conference saw Oregon and Ohio State take championships, with the biggest surprise being Indiana, which took one.
One of the funniest things revealed in one of the simulations was that zero SEC teams made it to the 12-team playoff. This was clearly a glitch, as the SEC team will always have at least one team make it in, with the four Power Five conference champions getting an automatic bid.
In the picture revealed by Yahoo Sports, it looked like Boise State, a Group of Five teams, was awarded a first-round bye in place of Georgia. In that same playoff, Miami beat Kansas State in the College Football Championship game.
The other two winners were also surprising, with Oregon beating Clemson in one and Oklahoma State beating Florida in the other. Yep, that is the Gators making a College Football Championship game, the same team many are tipping to finish in the bottom four of the SEC Conference.
Plenty of surprises in Yahoo Sports' season simulations in the game
Another surprising result was that as well as Indiana winning a Big Ten Championship, their quarterback Kurtis Rourke had two top-five Heisman finishes. Are we too hasty in ruling out the Hoosiers to make a run for a championship?
The last time they won one outright was in 1945, and they shared one with Minnesota and Purdue in 1967. Despite the game's claim, that drought doesn't likely end this season.
Looking at the 12-team playoff that was shown, we saw a Michigan team make it in with a 7-5 record and a USC team with a 9-3 record. Both come from the Big Ten Conference and are the second and third-best teams. What the hell happened to Ohio State that season? And did the SEC cannibalize everybody's chances?
We have learned from the Yahoo Sports simulations that although fun, some scenarios seem unrealistic.