Here at the Sickos Committee, we support all sorts of teams, and we personally cannot wait to play the updated version of EA Sports College Football 26. However, this year there is a change in the game that lets us actually support schools by choosing to play as them.

According to reports, “When EA Sports College Football 26 comes out in July, schools will be compensated in a new way. Payouts will be determined by the amount of time users play as teams in the video game.” This is theoretically huge news, as last year schools were paid by a tier system based on AP Poll Rankings from previous years. Basically, this puts some onus on you, the player, to pick a team and play as much as you can to help them get a larger payout.

Now, I know we’re not talking earth-shattering money, but really some schools could use the additional payout.

Last year, depending on your tier, this was your school’s payout. The tiers were based on cumulative team success from the 2014-2023 seasons, and payments were structured as:

• Tier 1: $99,875.16

• Tier 2: $59,925.09

• Tier 3: $39,950.06

• Tier 4: $9,987.52

Now this year the payment will be different, and it’s basically in your hands to change the tiers.

“In a sample scenario from cllct, the total royalties in a university pool would be $5 million with 700 million games played. If users play 7 million games as School A, the school’s allocation would be 1%. Therefore, School A would receive $50,000.”

As a Tier 3 or 4 school, potentially seeing your payout jump to $50,000 compared to less than $10,000 could help a good bit. Especially to the lower athletic department revenue schools. It’s extra money for the school, and who couldn’t use extra money???

So as the Commish, I did something for you, and I wanted to make the case for you to play as certain teams that have the lowest budgets in FBS. I went through this USA Revenue and expense report below and then tiered the teams out to help you make a decision.

Remember this is PUBLICLY available money data but I will have a part for Private Schools at the end!

Now, I am not trying to hate on your team at all; if you have a big budget, that’s great. However, if you’re like me, when you play the game, you’re a builder, and you want a long challenge and to turn a small school into a powerhouse in Dynasty mode. If you like to play with the big teams in the big atmosphere, that’s great, but if you get bored and want to play a couple of games with another school, you can use this too.

So let’s get to the tiers right away.

The Bottom 25 in Athletic Department Revenue would see a nice bump in their funding if you played as them. It would likely help out a ton. You’ve got plenty of fun teams in here too, great teams to build up over a long haul, and of course ULM MENTIONED.

The Bottom 50, awesome teams to play as, too! Phenomenal team options here. Some powerhouses of the Group of Five live here too.

In The Bottom 75, you’ve got a mix of Power Schools and some fun group of five teams too. I have no idea why Tiermaker had a grey version of Kansas State or Nevada either. 

The High/Middle of the Pack Revenue and Top 25 in revenue may not notice the additional funds coming in, really. But hey, I cannot tell you who to play the game as; that is ultimately up to you. Also, some of these teams' funding could be mostly for another sport. Kansas and Kentucky, for example.

The private schools and ones that don’t disclose their revenue are a little tricky. You know Notre Dame, USC, and Miami don’t need help. However, Rice, Tulsa, Temple, and Wake Forest? Yeah, they could likely use some help. Also, fun schools like Tulane, TCU, and Pitt are here. Plus, you have Delaware and Jax State, and both service academies too. So this one is a mixed bag category, but you’re likely smart enough to make a good decision.

So if you needed a guide to tell you who to play as this year based on monetary reasoning only, use this and help a school earn some extra revenue.

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