Summer 2024 was a landmark year for college football.
A new generation finally got its hands on a college football video game. After a 12-year hiatus, EA Sports College Football 25 was released to fill that void, and it was the second-best selling video game of 2024 in the United States, only trailing Call of Duty Black Ops 6.
Now, the video game is back to being an annual tradition. The early-access version of EA Sports College Football 26 was released July 7 and the standard version debuted July 10.
Here’s a look at how the American Athletic Conference stacks up in the video game, showing each team’s rating and the top player overalls:
Team Ratings
Team
Overall
Offense
Defense
Team
Overall
Offense
Defense
South Florida
79
79
79
Memphis
77
76
79
Tulane
77
76
79
UTSA
77
76
76
North Texas
72
71
74
East Carolina
71
71
71
Tulsa
71
71
71
Army
70
71
69
Charlotte
69
69
71
Florida Atlantic
69
69
71
Rice
69
69
71
UAB
69
69
71
Navy
69
69
69
Temple
69
69
69
The team overalls are generally lower in CFB 26 compared to CFB 25. Last year, Memphis led the way with an 85 overall while Tulane, South Florida, and UTSA all wielded 80 overalls. Army and Temple were ranked the lowest at 73 overalls.
This year, the range shifts from South Florida, which warrants a 79 overall, to six different teams which share a 69 overall.
Program Prestige
Each program is assigned a “prestige” value on a star system. The highest rated programs including perennial playoff contenders Georgia, Alabama, and Ohio State are labeled 5 stars. The lowest rated programs, such as recent FBS additions Kennesaw State and Delaware, are 1 star.
Program prestige plays a key role in recruiting in the game’s “Dynasty Mode.” Below is each AAC’s program’s prestige rating. No AAC program is rated higher than 2.5 stars.
Program Prestige
Team
Prestige (☆)
Team
Prestige (☆)
Army
2.5
Memphis
2.5
Tulane
2.5
Navy
2
North Texas
2
Tulsa
2
East Carolina
1.5
Florida Atlantic
1.5
South Florida
1.5
Temple
1.5
UAB
1.5
UTSA
1.5
Charlotte
1
Rice
1
Compared to CFB 25:
Memphis upgraded from 2 to 2.5 stars
Navy upgraded from 1.5 to 2 stars
UAB downgraded from 2 to 1.5 stars
Player Ratings
The 10 highest rated players by overall are listed below for each AAC program.
Army
Player
Position
Overall
Player
Position
Overall
Brady Small
C
90
Hayden Reed
HB
85
Jaydan Mayes
CB
83
Kalib Fortner
MIKE
83
Andon Thomas
MIKE
82
Noah Short
WR
81
Casey Larkin
FS
80
Jake Rendina
FB
79
Will Jeffcoat
LG
79
Justin Weaver
CB
79
Charlotte
Player
Position
Overall
Player
Position
Overall
Donald Chaney*
HB
82
Ja’Qurious Conley
CB
80
Jesse Ramil
LT
80
Collin Gill
FS
79
Thai Baldwin
CB
78
Henry Rutledge
HB
78
Reid Williford
MIKE
78
Jayden McGowan
WR
78
Treyveon McGee
SS
77
Jonny King
C
77
* Donald Chaney is no longer with the program
East Carolina
Player
Position
Overall
Player
Position
Overall
Anthony Smith
WR
85
London Montgomery
HB
83
Patrick Jenkins
HB
82
Marlon Gunn Jr.
HB
80
Katin Houser
QB
79
Ja’Marley Riddle
FS
79
Mike Wright
QB
78
Jordy Lowery
CB
77
Ryheem Craig
REDG
77
J.D. Lampley
LEDG
77
Florida Atlantic
Player
Position
Overall
Player
Position
Overall
Easton Messer
WR
84
Caden Veltkamp
QB
83
Logan Lupo
P
77
Gemari Sands
HB
77
Kahlil Brantley*
TE
77
Xavier Terrell
HB
77
JR Wilson
WR
76
Wilky Denaud
REDG
76
Okino King
C
75
Madden Sanker
LG
75
* Kahlil Brantley medically retired from football in March
Memphis
Player
Position
Overall
Player
Position
Overall
Kamari Wilson
SS
85
Frank Peasant
HB
84
William Whitlow Jr.
REDG
84
Brendon Lewis
QB
82
Chris Adams
RT
82
Greg Desrosiers Jr.
HB
82
Marcus Burris Jr.
DT
81
Isheem Young
SS
81
Sam Brumfield
WILL
81
CJ Smith
WR
81
Navy
Player
Position
Overall
Player
Position
Overall
Blake Horvath
QB
90
Eli Heidenreich
HB
88
Alex Tecza
FB
88
Landon Robinson
DT
87
Ben Purvis
LG
84
Brandon Chatman
HB
83
Jaxson Campbell
SAM
83
Luke Pirris
REDG
82
Nathan Kent
WR
80
TK Hodges
HB
79
North Texas
Player
Position
Overall
Player
Position
Overall
Gabe Blair
C
83
David Fisher
CB
82
Fatafehi Vailea II
DT
81
Ethan Wesloski
WILL
80
Shaadie Clayton-Johnson*
HB
80
Makenzie McGill II
HB
79
Evan Jackson
FS
79
Sawyer Evans
P
79
Johnny Dickson III
HB
78
Simeon Evans
WR
78
* Shaadie Clayton-Johnson is no longer with the program
Rice
Player
Position
Overall
Player
Position
Overall
Blake Boenisch
DT
80
Chase Allen
K
79
Andrew Awe
MIKE
79
Max Balthazar
HB
79
Weston Kropp
RG
78
Ty Morris
WILL
78
DJ Arkansas
MIKE
78
Quinton Jackson
HB
78
Jack Kane
SS
77
Daveon Hook
SS
77
South Florida
Player
Position
Overall
Player
Position
Overall
Jhalyn Shuler
WILL
85
De’Shawn Rucker
CB
84
Byrum Brown
QB
83
Mac Harris
MIKE
83
Cartevious Norton
HB
83
Rico Watson III
REDG
81
Cole Best
C
81
Sam Franklin
HB
80
Chavez Brown
MIKE
80
Mike Lofton
C
79
Temple
Player
Position
Overall
Player
Position
Overall
Jay Ducker
HB
86
Terrez Worthy
HB
84
Jalen Stewart
MIKE
81
Javier Morton
SS
81
Joquez Smith
HB
81
Johnny Martin
HB
77
Grayson Mains
C
76
Evan Simon
QB
76
Gevani McCoy
QB
75
John Adams
WR
75
Tulane
Player
Position
Overall
Player
Position
Overall
Maurice Westmoreland
REDG
88
Derrick Graham
LT
88
Kameron Hamilton
DT
84
Zuberi Mobley
HB
83
Maurice Turner
HB
83
Arnold Barnes III
HB
83
Shadre Hurst
LG
83
Jack Hollifield
C
83
Bailey Despanie
SS
82
Sam Howard
WILL
81
Tulsa
Player
Position
Overall
Player
Position
Overall
Dominic Richardson
HB
82
Sevion Morrison
HB
81
Ajay Allen
HB
80
Viron Ellison Jr.*
HB
80
J’Dan Burnett
LEDG
80
Tai Newhouse
DT
78
Angus Davies
P
78
Zion Booker
WR
77
Hunter Erb
RT
77
Braylin Presley
WR
77
* Viron Ellison Jr. transferred to Delaware in May
UAB
Player
Position
Overall
Player
Position
Overall
Jevon Jackson
HB
85
Jonah Delange
K
82
Sirad Bryant
SS
81
Isaiah Jacobs
HB
81
Nigel Tate
DT
79
Tariq Watson
CB
79
Corri Milliner
WR
79
Iverson Hooks
WR
77
James Ingram*
HB
77
AJ Brown
SS
76
* James Ingram is not a real person
UTSA
Player
Position
Overall
Player
Position
Overall
Robert Henry Jr.
HB
85
John Emery Jr.
HB
84
Devin McCuin
WR
84
Kamar Missouri
LT
83
De’Corian Clark
WR
82
Tyan Milton
SS
81
Bryson Donnell
HB
81
A’Marion Peterson
HB
81
Ben Rios
C
80
Houston Thomas
TE
80
Top Players in the AAC
Army center Brady Small and Navy quarterback Blake Horvath are the highest rated players in the AAC at 90 overall. 14 AAC players received a rating of 85 or greater.
AAC Players with Overalls 85+
Player
Team
Position
Overall
Player
Team
Position
Overall
Brady Small
Army
C
90
Blake Horvath
Navy
QB
90
Eli Heidenreich
Navy
HB
88
Alex Tecza
Navy
FB
88
Maurice Westmoreland
Tulane
REDG
88
Derrick Graham
Tulane
LT
88
Landon Robinson
Navy
DT
87
Jay Ducker
Temple
HB
86
Hayden Reed
Army
HB
85
Anthony Smith
East Carolina
WR
85
Kamari Wilson
Memphis
SS
85
Jhalyn Shuler
South Florida
WILL
85
Jevon Jackson
UAB
HB
85
Robert Henry Jr.
UTSA
HB
85