As more news comes out about EA Sports College Football comes out ahead of its expected Summer 2025 release, many fans have wondered if HBCUs will be featured in the game. FCS teams, specifically HBCUs, were featured in early editions of the NCAA Football franchise and even featured real-life players. The last known edition of the game to feature HBCU teams before the series was discontinued was NCAA Football 2008.

Matt Brown, creator of the Extra Ponts newsletter, was interviewed by YouTuber Tubbylight about updates surrounding the game as he's been on top of coverage about the well-anticipated project. Brown confirmed that there are plans to include the most recent FBS members who transferred to the FCS such as Kenessaw State, James Madison, and Jacksonville State. However, it seems as if FCS teams won't be available on the default roster of the game at the initial release.

“I have been repeatedly told that the plan is to not include FCS teams at launch. That isn't to say that they may not be included as a DLC or an expansion pack or something later on, but the plan for the last year plus has been to focus on FBS institutions.”

The news should come as a bit of a disappointment to HBCU football fans who would like to play simulations of football in the SWAC & MEAC or even HBCUs in non-historically black conferences such as Tennessee State, Hampton and North Carolina A&T. The dream of moving one of the schools up to an FBS conference, a topic often spoken about in HBCU circles, might be hard to pull off as well without the institutions being on the default roster.

However, adding in HBCU & FCS teams as downloadable content that can be imported after the release is a promising idea that will surely be lucrative for EA Sports and a fantastic money opportunity for the FCS programs and their athletes via NIL rights.