Tag Archives: College Hoops

From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #596 of the NLSC Podcast!

In a shocking and rather unfortunate development, EA Sports has rescinded their proposal for a college basketball game in light of Take-Two reaching agreements with several schools to develop their own “college basketball experience”. This week, we join the community in reacting to the news and speculating on what we can expect from 2K as far as DLC and possibly a standalone game within a couple of years. Interestingly, not everyone is in favour of 2K beating EA to the punch here, but there certainly is interest in what they’ve hinted at. We also follow up on last week’s show with some further impressions of NBA 2K26, now that we’ve both had a chance to spend ample time with this year’s game.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:08:37 — 47.5MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify

To get involved with the mailbag or to provide any feedback on the show, hit us up in the comments, reach out on social media, or post here in the NLSC Forum! For more information on the NLSC Podcast including episode guides, check out this page in our Wiki. You can also find the show on our YouTube channel, along with the rest of our video content. As always, thanks for tuning in, and go get buckets!

Just as I finished posting the previous bulletin about EA Sports rescinding their proposal for a college basketball game, 2K announced that they were going back to school with the following post:

It’s NBA 2K26 launch week! It seems like a good time to share even MORE incredible news about the future of basketball at 2K.

Yes, it’s true. We’re working on a college basketball experience that will feature more than 100 programs from across the country, from powerhouses to Cinderella stories. Competition fuels quality at all levels, which is why our approach with college basketball ensures our partner schools, college athletes and our players all benefit.

More good news – you won’t have to wait long to start seeing your favorite colleges show up in game. We’ve got big plans for 2027 and beyond, and even a few surprises coming in early 2026.

We’ve proven the quality of the basketball experience we can deliver for years, and have every intention to bring that same level of quality to college hoops.

Ball Over Everything.

Obviously further details are yet to come, and “college basketball experience” is somewhat vague wording, but we might possibly see a standalone game from 2K as early as 2027. As for the surprises that are coming in early 2026, my guess would be MyTEAM content as they apparently originally proposed, but we’ll have to wait and see. For the moment, we can only speculate.

We’ll be sure to cover any future announcements, as well as the game/content when it arrives. I have no doubt that Dee and I will have plenty to say about these developments with EA Sports, 2K, and college basketball games in an upcoming episode of the NLSC Podcast, so stay tuned for that as well. In the meantime, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments, as well as join in the discussion here in the Forum.

Back in June, many of us were excited to hear that EA Sports were planning to make a new college basketball game, targeting a 2028 release. Since then however, Take-Two has also thrown their hat into the ring, and it appears that their efforts have already sunk EA’s return to the virtual hardwood.

As per Matt Brown of Extra Points, EA Sports has now rescinded their proposal to the Collegiate Licensing Company in the wake of Take-Two coming to terms with several schools. EA’s proposal was for an exclusive license to develop a game featuring every Division I school, notably representing both the men’s and women’s basketball programs. 2K originally proposed a non-exclusive deal that would see them integrate a limited number of college teams as MyTEAM content. However, they later proposed a standalone game, and began contacting schools accordingly.

EA Sports has yet to make a further public announcement regarding their planned college basketball game, but it certainly does sound as though they’ve backed away from those plans in light of 2K inking deals with a number of schools, and their own failure to secure an exclusive contract. Matt Brown’s coverage of this situation from the initial rumblings to the latest development has been excellent and on-point, so for now, it doesn’t look like we should hold out much hope for a new EA Sports college basketball title anytime soon.

This is obviously unfortunate news as many basketball gamers were looking forward to having an alternative in the space once more. With the success of EA Sports College Football, there seemed to be cause for optimism that EA would be looking to make a strong return to the virtual hardwood. 2K is undoubtedly in a better position to deliver a game sooner though, so it’ll be interesting to see if any announcements are forthcoming. In the meantime, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments, as well as here in our Forum.

This is Wayback Wednesday, your midweek blast from the past! From retrospectives of basketball games and their interesting features, to republished articles and looking at NBA history through the lens of the virtual hardwood, Wednesdays at the NLSC are for going back in time. This week, I’m taking another look back at the All-Time College DLC for NBA 2K17.

It’s funny what will prompt you to revisit certain games, and then keep playing them. Content creation is undoubtedly a factor. Revisiting NBA 2K14 for PlayStation 4 on a whim led to a retrospective of MyCAREER, and in turn an ongoing adventure and an overdue appreciation for an amazing game. Hoping to grab a screenshot for an article, I dusted off NBA Live 18 to play through The One. It was a blast, and I once again developed a greater fondness for an older release, while also lamenting its wasted potential. I didn’t get the screenshot I wanted, but I ended up with something better.

I don’t take that for granted. In an age of disposable games, I appreciate any unique content and modes that remain available years later. That brings me to the All-Time College DLC for NBA 2K17, which inspired me to spend some more time with an old favourite after revisiting it for research. I did cover the DLC back in 2018, but I’m not entirely satisfied with that feature. Also, with EA (and apparently 2K) developing a new college basketball game, it’s seems only apt to revisit the last time that collegiate content was available outside of a specific mode. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #589 of the NLSC Podcast!

In the wake of EA Sports announcing a new college basketball game, Take-Two is reportedly planning to develop a competing title. This decision follows a particularly insulting proposal to the CLC regarding the use of collegiate content, and an attempt to hamstring the development of EA’s announced game that involves a broken NDA. We definitely have some thoughts about the situation, and as you can probably guess, they aren’t exactly positive! We also join the community in discussing whether or not we’d like to see a new college game based on the NBA 2K engine and if we’d prefer that 2K beat EA to the punch, and touch on 2K’s new NBA deal which apparently includes initiatives that go beyond the virtual hardwood.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 54:36 — 37.9MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify

To get involved with the mailbag or to provide any feedback on the show, hit us up in the comments, reach out on social media, or post here in the NLSC Forum! For more information on the NLSC Podcast including episode guides, check out this page in our Wiki. You can also find the show on our YouTube channel, along with the rest of our video content. As always, thanks for tuning in, and go get buckets!

Welcome to another edition of The Friday Five! Every Friday I cover a topic related to basketball gaming, either as a list of five items, or a Top 5 countdown. The topics for these lists and countdowns include everything from fun facts and recollections to commentary and critique. This week’s Five offers up five warnings for basketball video game collectors.

As a 90s kid who got into more than a couple of collecting fads over the years, I’d have to say that basketball video games have been among the most satisfying things to collect. It certainly helps that I don’t have to rely on favourable odds and hope that what I want is in a pack I’m opening, but compared to trading cards and other such collectibles, video games have a practical use. Of course, there are some people who collect video games of all genres simply for the purpose of displaying and eventually selling them, but I collect basketball games to play them…and yes, to create content.

Mind you, whatever your reason for collecting video games – whatever the genre – it’s a hobby with fluctuating difficulty and expense. Furthermore, because there is money to be made, too many people are hoping to cash in on the enthusiasm – or indeed, the desperation – of collectors. I’ve strived to be as savvy and frugal as I possibly can be while building my basketball game collection, and I’ll always advise any would-be collectors and retro gamers to do the same. To that end, there are some warnings that I strongly suggest you heed. Retro gaming and collecting is a blast, but you do need to be careful about costs, and keep a few things in mind if you want to play those games.

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We’re at midcourt, and the ball is about to go up…it’s Monday Tip-Off! Join me as I begin the week here at the NLSC with my opinions and commentary on basketball gaming topics, as well as tales of the fun I’ve been having on the virtual hardwood. This week, I’m tipping things off with some thoughts on the way that 2K responded with pettiness to the announcement of a new college basketball game from EA Sports.

Last week, EA Sports surprised a lot of gamers with the announcement of a new college basketball title, tentatively scheduled for release in 2028. There have been some questions as to why the announcement is being made so far out. It appears that the Collegiate Licensing Company entertained bids for a new basketball game in late June, with EA Sports’ bid being successful. A three year development window would be similar to the return of EA Sports College Football, which was announced in 2021 and released in 2024. Presumably, pre-production on this new hoops title has begun.

Needless to say, while not everyone is optimistic about a new college basketball game from EA Sports – understandably so – many gamers are excited. It’ll be a new release from an established company, in a genre that’s suffered from a lack of alternatives and competition. To that point, how did 2K respond to EA Sports rejoining the basketball gaming space with a college game? In short, a quote reply to a post on X opining that they should be the ones making the game wryly saying “the campus has been quiet for too long”, and a statement in which they referred to themselves as the “undisputed home of basketball gaming”. Basically, 2K is giving pettiness the old college try.

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From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #563 of the NLSC Podcast!

With rumours that both EA Sports and Visual Concepts are considering bringing back their respective college basketball video games, which series would we personally prefer to see return? Our answer may surprise you…or then again, perhaps not! We also join the community in naming the players from NBA history and today that we most wish we could play like. It’s probably not a huge spoiler to mention that among others, we wanna be like Mike! Finally, we wrap up with a recap of a fun co-op session of NBA Live 2004 in which we took on the Houston Rockets with the Phoenix Suns, and reflect on it being a transitional year for both of those teams, as well as the NBA Live series.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 56:17 — 39.0MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify

To get involved with the mailbag or to provide any feedback on the show, hit us up in the comments, reach out on social media, or post here in the NLSC Forum! For more information on the NLSC Podcast including episode guides, check out this page in our Wiki. You can also find the show on our YouTube channel, along with the rest of our video content. As always, thanks for tuning in, and go get buckets!

Today’s NBA 2K14 mod releases feature the College Hoops 2K25 project by nick15, which in the spirit of so many college basketball video games, includes fictional players for all 358 Division I NCAA teams! Pick it up at the link below, and check out the release and support topic here in the Forum for more previews and information on the project.

nick15
College Hoops 2K25 // FICTIONAL

Thanks to everyone who continues to contribute to our Downloads database! If you need help uploading files, be sure to check out this video tutorial. For more information about downloads, the modding community, and Mod Releases bulletins, please see this FAQ in our Wiki.

We’re at midcourt, and the ball is about to go up…it’s Monday Tip-Off! Join me as I begin the week here at the NLSC with my opinions and commentary on basketball gaming topics, as well as tales of the fun I’ve been having on the virtual hardwood. This week, I’m tipping things off with some reflections on my recent interest in college basketball video games, particularly EA’s NCAA series.

As I’ve mentioned in previous articles and on our podcast, I didn’t grow up playing college basketball games, as issues with international licensing rights prevented them from being released outside of North America. With no PAL versions of the games, it was usually unfeasible to import them, since they wouldn’t work on the hardware that I own. Of course, college basketball itself isn’t as popular in Australia as the NBA or our own NBL are, so I’ve always had a more casual interest in the NCAA anyway. At the same time, I was intrigued by college basketball video games.

After all, I loved playing with the fictional players in World League Basketball, which of course was originally a college hoops title that was rebranded for PAL regions. I also read previews of NCAA games with a degree of envy, my interest piqued by mechanics such as momentum meters, the ability to shatter the backboard, and the inclusion of classic teams. When a friend gifted me his old PlayStation 3 back in 2019, I was finally able to add a few college basketball games to my collection. It was satisfying to track them down and finally check them out after all this time, as well as write about them. Recently however, they’ve been getting more time in my rotation.

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From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #484 of the NLSC Podcast!

The community has spoken: whether it comes from EA Sports, 2K Sports, or indeed both, many of us are very keen to see a new college basketball game! From licensed players and gameplay to presentation and features, we join the community in discussing our expectations for a hypothetical NCAA title. Elsewhere, we’ve noticed a couple of Tweets attempting to rehabilitate NBA 2K18’s image. Naturally, we have a few thoughts on that! We also discuss Damian Lillard’s trade request and big contracts for NBA role players, react to the recent separation of EA Sports and EA Games, and open up this week’s mailbag for some NBA 2K17 Overall Ratings trivia.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:12:06 — 49.9MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify

To get involved with the mailbag or to provide any feedback on the show, hit us up in the comments, reach out on social media, or post here in the NLSC Forum! For more information on the NLSC Podcast including episode guides, check out this page in our Wiki. You can also find the show on our YouTube channel, along with the rest of our video content. As always, thanks for tuning in, and go get buckets!

We’re still seeing a ton of great mod release for NBA 2K14, and we have another one today in the form of an update to the College Hoops 2K22 mod. Pick it up at the link below!

nick15
College Hoops 2K22 (Updated to v2.5)

Thanks to everyone who continues to contribute to our Downloads database! If you need help uploading files, be sure to check out this video tutorial. For more information about downloads, the modding community, and Mod Releases bulletins, please see this FAQ in our Wiki.

We’re at midcourt, and the ball is about to go up…it’s Monday Tip-Off! Join me as I begin the week here at the NLSC with my opinions and commentary on basketball gaming topics, as well as tales of the fun I’ve been having on the virtual hardwood. This week, I’m tipping things off with a look at my basketball video game collection, as of 2022.

Back in March, I tweeted out a photo of my entire physical basketball video game collection, with some follow-up screenshots of the digital releases I own. I’m proud of my collection and satisfied in how I’ve been able to amass it, so I was pleased with the reception. While collecting is something that I do for my own enjoyment – and create content for the NLSC, of course – I was naturally hoping that my fellow hoops gamers would be impressed and get a kick out of the photo. I wanted it to inspire nostalgia, intrigue, and yes, a slight touch of good-natured envy. I’d say mission accomplished!

Given the old maxim of a picture being worth a thousand words, I could just leave it at those Tweets. However, I would like to talk a little more about my basketball video game collection, and provide a comprehensive listing as it’s impossible to get every title to be clearly visible in one photo. There are also a few digital releases that I didn’t display in my follow-up screenshots, including a couple I neglected to mention since they’re standalone releases and not on a digital platform such as Steam, Xbox Live, or the PSN Store. Finally, it’s been almost seven years since I wrote about my basketball video game collection, and I’ve been able to make some exciting additions since then.

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The latest file additions for NBA 2K14 include updated logo packs, a new College Hoops roster, Wilson NCAA basketball, and a new Gary Payton face. Download all of today’s NBA 2K14 file additions at the links below!

KLWKN 2K
2021-2022 NBA Logos
2019-2020 NBA Logos (Updated to Final Version)

nick15
College Hoops 2K22

Pep
Wilson NCAA Evo NXT Game Ball

IceCr
Gary Payton Face (Updated to v3.0)

Thanks to everyone who continues to contribute to our Downloads database! If you need help uploading files, be sure to check out this video tutorial. For more information about downloads, the modding community, and File Additions bulletins, please see this FAQ in our Wiki.

Welcome to the NLSC Rewind for 2021! It’s been another challenging year for many of us around the world, but fortunately, we’ve had basketball gaming to provide some much-needed distractions. Here at the NLSC, it’s been another year of great mod releases and basketball gaming discussion. We’ve also aimed to cover a wide variety of topics in our original content.

As always, it’s been our goal to cover both the positive and negative aspects of the games we play. From holding publishers accountable and criticising practices that impact our enjoyment, to celebrating the fun we’re having and brainstorming new ideas for future games, we’ve strived to be fair, thorough, informative, and hopefully entertaining. Above all, we want our original content to share interesting facts, ways to enhance your basketball gaming experiences, and advocate for our fellow gamers. Whichever mode and game that we each prefer, we should all get the most out of it.

This NLSC Rewind is a collection of “editor’s picks” for our 2021 content. Obviously, I encourage everyone to dig through our entire archives if you’re enjoying what you’re reading, watching, and listening to with our articles, videos, and podcasts. However, these recommendations represent content that I’m particularly proud of, and believe are worth a second look or listen; or a first one, if you missed them when they were originally posted! Seeing as how we’re celebrating our 25th Anniversary this year, I decided that I’d make 25 picks for each of our weekly features. As we prepare for a brand new year of basketball gaming, join me as I rewind 2021 here at the NLSC!

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