NLSC Your source for basketball video games.
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 a look back at the classic teams that can be found in a couple of games in EA Sports’ NCAA Basketball series.
It’s March Madness once again, and for long-time basketball gamers, that means our thoughts turn to college hoops titles. It’s been over a decade since we’ve been able to hit the virtual NCAA hardwood, at least without the aid of mods or retro gaming. As someone who grew up in a PAL region, I wasn’t able to play college basketball video games for many years. Indeed, it wasn’t until I was gifted a PlayStation 3 in 2019 and tracked down a few games from 2K Sports’ College Hoops and EA Sports’ NCAA Basketball series that I was finally able to experience them for myself.
I have to tell you, that’s been a blast! While the NCAA mods for NBA Live and NBA 2K have been fantastic, there are some aspects of college basketball that they can’t quite capture. The on-court experience in NCAA Basketball and College Hoops back in the day was impressively authentic, and a fun change of pace from the NBA titles. Even without adding real player names, I really enjoy them. However, something that has really captured my attention in NCAA March Madness 08 and NCAA Basketball 09 is the classic teams. Not only are they great bonus content, but they also had long-lasting ramifications on basketball gaming. Let’s take a look back…way back…
Once again, I didn’t grow up playing college basketball video games, as they weren’t released in PAL regions. It was possible to import them thanks to devices such as the Universal Adapter for the Super Nintendo, or alternatively by modding your console to be region-free. I didn’t have that adapter all those years ago, and I didn’t want to risk damaging my consoles, so I could only observe the NCAA games from afar. As such, when it was announced that NCAA March Madness 08 would include a handful of classic and All-Time teams – including Michael Jordan’s North Carolina squads – I was quite envious that I’d be missing out on even more fun with the NCAA titles.
In addition to the ’82 North Carolina Tar Heels, NCAA March Madness 08 featured 40 other classic teams, ranging from the ’66 Texas Western Miners through to the ’07 Florida Gators, who were the reigning champions when the game was released. The Phi Slamma Jama Houston Cougars featuring Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler were available, as were Patrick Ewing’s Georgetown Hoyas. Michigan’s Fab Five with Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard and company, Duke Blue Devils squads starring Grant Hill, Christian Laettner, and Bobby Hurley…even Magic Johnson and Larry Bird’s MSU and ISU teams from the 1979 National Title showdown were there!
Not only that, but 33 all-time squads for selected Division I schools were in NCAA March Madness 08 alongside the individual classic teams. This allowed a number of Legends who didn’t have their own squad among the classic teams to still be playable in the game, teaming up with their fellow iconic alumni. As such, not only could you replay the famous 1982 championship game between Jordan’s Tar Heels and Ewing’s Hoyas, but you could also stage a fantasy showdown between the all-time UNC and Georgetown teams. To that point, you could have the high-flying duo of Michael Jordan and Vince Carter squaring off against Patrick Ewing and Allen Iverson.
Well, sort of. As with the current rosters in NCAA March Madness, none of the players on the classic or all-time teams had real names or likenesses. You could tell who they were supposed to be, of course – and we’ll get into that – so as with the current teams, you could simply add the real names, or download a custom roster where someone else had already gone to the trouble. Notably, you did have to defeat the all-time teams in exhibition play to unlock them, whereas the classic teams were immediately available. There were no restrictions though, so you can unlock the all-time teams rather swiftly by playing on two-minute halves and Varsity difficulty.
Despite lacking their names and proper faces, there’s a real novelty to the classic and all-time teams in NCAA March Madness 08. They do use era-appropriate jerseys and logos, so there was attention to detail as far as what they could license. Much like the current rosters, because the placeholders are meant to represent actual players, they do play like their real life counterparts. I would absolutely recommend adding real names for the most authentic experience, but both the classic teams and all-time teams are set up to immediately put on the virtual hardwood and enjoy a historical matchup. You know that’s MJ, that’s Shaquille O’Neal, that’s Larry Johnson, that’s Ewing, and so on.
The re-branded NCAA Basketball 09 dropped the all-time squads, but kept the classic teams. In fact, it expanded the selection to 64 teams, facilitating a separate tournament mode featuring the throwback squads. It was a shame to lose the all-time teams, but this still left the game with plenty of retro content. The addition of more teams from the 1960s and even the 1950s allowed NBA greats from that era such as Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain to be represented, while the ’86 Navy Midshipmen and the ’95 Wake Forest Demon Deacons added David Robinson and Tim Duncan respectively; or at least, vague lookalike placeholder players that were obviously meant to be them.
That brings us to why the classic teams in NCAA March Madness 08 and NCAA Basketball 09 – while fun content for us – were a bad idea, or at least, a rather poorly-executed one. Even though the likenesses of the stand-in players weren’t entirely accurate, as I said, it was clear from their numbers, bio data, ratings, and their general appearances, who they were supposed to be. Developers of NBA games had already found themselves in hot water when Roster Players bore too much of a resemblance to the players they were replacing; Konami’s NBA in the Zone 2 is a notorious example here! EA basically included real players without licensing their names and likenesses.
Needless to say, those players weren’t pleased about EA using them as a selling point, without compensating them in any way. Former UCLA Bruin Ed O’Bannon – whose ’95 squad appeared among the classic teams in both NCAA March Madness 08 and NCAA Basketball 09 – became the lead plaintiff in an antitrust class action lawsuit against the NCAA over use of former students’ likenesses for commercial purposes. Electronic Arts and the Collegiate Licensing Company were also both originally co-defendants, but reached a settlement to pay players that had been featured as part of the historical content in EA Sports’ various college games dating back as far as 2003.
It’s important to note that the lawsuit sought fair compensation for student athletes past and present, given that the NCAA could profit from their likenesses but they could not, in the name of retaining their amateur status. It was not, as is sometimes claimed, intended to block the development of college sports video games. This has led to unfair criticism of O’Bannon and other players involved in the lawsuit from a vocal minority; sadly, not the first nor the last time that gamers would side with the big corporation over individuals entitled to fair compensation! Fortunately, most gamers understood the situation, or came to understand it, and supported the players.
Of course, while it wasn’t the lawsuit’s intention to put an end to college sports video games being developed, that was the ultimate result. EA Sports removed historical content from NCAA Basketball 10 and discontinued the series thereafter, with the NCAA Football series also ending in 2014. Once again however, this is on EA, the CLC, and NCAA, rather than the former players that were seeking fair compensation. Indeed, considering how many of the players on those classic teams were current or former NBA players – or at least, had long since left college – you’d think that EA could’ve (and should’ve) reached agreements to include them, real names and all!
Sure, it would’ve been expensive, but not only would it have made those classic teams even better out of the box, but it would’ve been all above board, too! As it stands, that penny-pinching cost the company a hefty settlement, prevented the inclusion of some fun bonus content, and clearly damaged the relationship between EA and the NCAA. To that end, while EA’s college football series is set to return and will feature real schools and players that agree to appear, it won’t carry the NCAA branding. If EA ever decides to bring back its college basketball series as well, I assume it’ll take a similar approach. We can safely assume that there won’t be any classic teams, either!
Between their brief inclusion in the series, and the controversy surrounding them, the classic and all-time teams in NCAA March Madness 08 and NCAA Basketball 09 are extremely memorable. While they may be largely remembered as being the catalyst for some important changes regarding compensation for current and former NCAA athletes, beyond all those issues, they were fun to play with on the virtual hardwood! I’ve been drawn to playing exhibition games with classic teams in NBA video games in recent years, so playing with retro college squads has been a real novelty as well. Whenever I revisit those NCAA titles, I’m most likely playing with the classic teams.
As much as the all-time teams would’ve been fun to have in NCAA Basketball 09, replacing them with an historical tournament mode and bringing the selection of classic teams to 64 was a good move; legal ramifications aside, of course. The classic content in both games gives them a hook, providing ample incentive to make them part of my retro basketball gaming rotation. I also believe that March Madness 08 plays a bit better than NBA Live 08, leaving me keener to revisit it for some historical NCAA action. They could’ve and should’ve been handled better, and it ultimately blew up in EA’s face, but I’m glad we got those classic teams in a couple of games.
