EA released a deep dive into College Football 25’s Dynasty Mode on YouTube two weeks ahead of the official release of the most anticipated sports game in decades. For the uninitiated, Dynasty Mode allows a player to control nearly every aspect of a program – play calling, development, recruiting – over a long span of years. If you play online, a group of 32 players can compete against each other for 30 years.

Here at Dave Campbell’s Texas Football, we plan to create one with our extended Republic of Football Podcast network. Watching the 6-minute-long trailer for Dynasty Mode got me thinking: How would I rank the programs in Texas to choose for Dynasty Mode? 

1. HOUSTON COUGARS 

The old version of Dynasty Mode made it possible to recruit high-level talent to smaller G5 schools outside of geographical advantages, but the new version is expected to play truer to normal. That makes Houston one of my favorite picks. Its new to P4 so the Cougars aren’t already enjoying a bunch of success. Houston is an elite recruiting destination. Winning the Big 12 is an automatic berth into the College Football Playoff. It wouldn’t be the normal P4 choice because of those challenges, so give me the Cougars. 

2. SMU MUSTANGS 

I’ll lead the Ponies for similar reasons I’d pick Houston. SMU is making the leap to P4 and you’ll need to build the program to beat Florida State, Clemson, and Miami so it won’t be a walk in the park. But you have plenty of resources and the best recruiting ground in America – The Metroplex. The roster is also ready-made to compete in the ACC. 

3. UTEP MINERS 

You want a challenge? Go to far West Texas and build a power in El Paso. Conference USA is winnable. The Sun Bowl is the most visually pleasing stadium in the state. 

4. SAM HOUSTON BEARCATS 

A sneaky strong pick here. Sam Houston is only 30 minutes to an hour from Houston and that should help recruiting. Beating Liberty is the real challenge for Conference USA supremacy. 

5. NORTH TEXAS MEAN GREEN 

North Texas used to be a cheat code G5 pick in the old version and the Mean Green hold advantages in Dynasty Mode. Like SMU, Denton is close to the Metroplex and should be a solid recruiting team, especially in the portal with rebound Texas prospects searching for playing time in the portal. 

6. UTSA ROADRUNNERS 

UTSA were newbies to the game before EA cut the cord. The Roadrunners are now perennial conference championship contenders with a strong home base in San Antonio. The Alamodome should also make for a solid in-game venue to play games in. I’d probably make a few CFP’s with the G5 auto-bid and then force my way into the Big 12. 

7. TEXAS STATE BOBCATS 

A cool stadium. A great conference. Fertile recruiting grounds. A fun color scheme and multiple uniform choices. San Marvelous is a great place to be as a head coach – ask the river floating G.J. Kinne. Texas State is also already on the way up with a roster that possesses a great G5 option at quarterback, running back, and receiver. Go dominate the Sun Belt and break into college football’s elite. 

8. RICE OWLS 

Like UTEP in terms of challenges. Maybe the Houston location gives the Owls a recruiting bump in the game. We’re not sure how hard it’ll be to attract top-end talent with the academic standards. 

9. BAYLOR BEARS 

The three legacy Big 12 programs – Baylor, TCU, Texas Tech – are similar choices in our minds. We’ll put the Bears here because we love the optics of McLane Stadium with the Brazos River in the background. The team likely won’t be rated as high as TCU or Tech so this one is a bit more of a challenge in Year 1. 

10. TEXAS TECH RED RAIDERS 

Texas Tech hasn’t won a conference championship since 1976, so it wouldn’t be cheating like picking money-rich schools like Texas or Texas A&M. The new uniforms are sick. 

11. TCU HORNED FROGS 

This one doesn’t feel like a huge challenge. The Horned Frogs were just in the national championship game and Fort Worth should allow for easy recruiting of the Metroplex. 

12. TEXAS A&M AGGIES 

Kyle Field was rated as the hardest stadium to play in and the Aggies haven’t won a national championship since before World War II, but how much fun is it to take a resource-rich SEC school to glory? It’d get boring by Year 7. 

13. TEXAS LONGHORNS 

Don’t be the police. Taking Texas to the top of a college football video game mountaintop is as rewarding as swimming across an empty creek.