Sickos NCAA Dynasty Tiers

Hello again, Commish here. Most, if not all, of us await the return of the EA College Football game. It has been over a decade without this game, which we’d love to play for hours on end.

Now, full disclosure here: I was really never into the ultimate team mode or playing against others online. My favorite mode was Dynasty Mode. I’d love to spend so much time building my team up and racking in the accolades to build a powerful college football program with my favorite bottom-of-the-barrel teams, including the one I attended (ULM Mentioned). So, I am here to give you my “Sickos” perspective on what team you should build your NCAA Dynasty with and maybe make a little assumption about what your team selection says about you. 

I’m not looking to create debates on the tiers of who should be where, but I understand the nature of the beast in College Football media. We love to argue over every little perceived slight. 

So, I will apologize in advance if I offend you or your team. Also, you were right; what was I thinking about putting this team in this particular tier? I am an idiot. 

Now that is out of the way, let’s get to the breakdown of the tiers. I have broken down the teams into 12 tiers; the 13th tier is just the next-year tier.

I’ll post a tier and try to explain my rationale on why these teams are in this tier. Don’t worry I will post a full graphic of the tiers at the bottom. 

Long Term Project Tier

These are the teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) that need some long-term care. Sure, some of the teams have had some recent bright moments, but that was after a long period of dormancy. Also, some of these teams haven’t really had much sustained success or any at all in FBS. You’ve got newer FBS programs in Sam Houston (we will steal the Sam Houston statue one day), Kennesaw State (bonus for fun playbook), and Charlotte (can you make your coach wear sleeveless shirts like Biff?), where you can make your own history for these programs. You have a school that was in a big conference but is now independent for the foreseeable future at UConn. You have schools in difficult-to-recruit locations in UTEP and New Mexico State. You have teams that just don’t string together much success, if any, in ULM, Akron, Kent State, UMass, FIU, Temple and New Mexico. You also have teams that were pretty solid a few years ago, but for the past few years, they’ve run into some hard luck as a program in Tulsa and Nevada.

This tier is for the gamer who wants to start basically from the ground up and is willing to go through some tough grind-it-out seasons before you can get the program humming in the game. These teams are not for the quick turnaround player.

These will take some work and if you’re like me, this is where you almost always start your Dynasty.

Yes, I will start with a ULM Dynasty (I went to school there after all) but I will likely work my way through a few of these over the life of the game. Matter of fact, Akron is already my second choice Dynasty team. Why did I develop a love for the Akron Zips growing up in New Orleans, Louisiana? I bought a Zips hat and was dared (or lost a bet) to wear it in Tiger Stadium while LSU pummeled Akron 56-0 in 1997. I got jokingly yelled at by LSU fans saying the Zips were “Tiger Bait.” I’ve stuck with following the Zips since then. 

G5 Sickos Fun Project Tier

This tier of teams is for a fun project. Yes, these teams will take some work, but likely not to the degree of the tier of teams in the tier above. Some of these teams have tasted a bowl game relatively immediately on the FBS level, like Jacksonville State, Georgia State and ODU. Also, you have schools with a rich and proud G5 tradition, conference titles and making a good bit of bowl games in their long or short-lived history, like Utah State, Middle Tennessee, Western Kentucky, Southern Miss, Ohio, Miami (OH), Bowling Green, Marshall, FAU, Ball State and Northern Illinois.

You’ve got programs on the upswing, like Texas State and South Alabama, in a fun conference. You also have some schools with new facilities, like UAB, UNLV and San Jose State. You’ve got schools with a storied history dating back before the 1960s, like Rice and North Texas. Then you’ve got a storied history in FCS along with some FBS success, like Georgia Southern.

These schools have some minor to moderate advantages over the long term project dynasty tier. However, they are not easy jobs by any stretch. You will have to build a little, but you likely have some sort of road map in place.

Instead of starting your dynasty with the highest difficulty there is, you can choose this tier to dial it down a notch or two. Also, these schools are quite fun to watch. They’ve got great mascots, traditions and some fun uniforms. There's no shame in choosing this tier at all. After all, this is a game, and it’s supposed to be fun to play.

Find Them a New Home Tier

This next tier is one where you’d likely play them to get them into a new Conference as soon as possible, I know this would be my main purpose. These teams are quite good and are set up for good and relatively quick success to varying degrees. I know East Carolina and Hawaii have had some down years recently due to different reasons, but if you can align things quickly, they could be a quick turn around. Then you would want them to relocate to a new conference. Hawaii in any other conference is just a funny concept, and it’d be quite fun to make an SEC or Big Ten team travel to Hawaii. We’re likely going to get Hawaii to whatever conference badge screenshots submitted to our Twitter account on a daily basis. 

You’d likely play as Oregon State or Wazzu to get them immediately back into a Power Conference. South Florida missed realignment last time, and if you choose them as a South Florida fan, you want to match UCF’s power conference status as fast as possible. Tulane and Memphis are the best the American Conference has to offer at the moment, with UTSA ever so slightly behind them. You could see Memphis in the Big XII, along with UTSA. You could see Memphis in the ACC, along with Tulane, or get the Green Wave back into the SEC. The fun ones you’d move up into any sort of Power Conference would be App State, San Diego State, Fresno State, Toledo, JMU and Troy. You’d likely take a Power Conference invite from any Conference, no matter where. Also, the geographic hilariousness possibility here is high with all those schools.

Does the ACC ask Fresno and San Diego State to join to give them a greater West Coast presence? Does the Big Ten invite Toledo? Does the Big XII invite USF to pair with UCF? 

Troops Tier

America! Troops! The Option! Those are three excellent reasons to pick these teams. Also, you’ll have an interesting experience in recruiting Dynasty wise. With any one of these three, you get a varying chance of snow, and you get to fight for an awesome 3-way rivalry trophy year after year.

Sickos National Champs Tier 

Nebraska won our first Sickos National Championship in 2021. If you want to bring them back to glory with a superb defense in place, this Dynasty option is for you. Do you think they will have the Der Viener Schlinger in the game too? 

Back to Back Sickos National Champs! Iowa won our 2022 and 2023 Sickos National Championships. Do you want the challenge or fun of turning Iowa into an offensive powerhouse while having incredible defense and special teams? Do you want to try to win games by punting on every offensive series and only scoring with your defense? Iowa is for you. Make the Hawkeyes your own Sickos Dynasty.

Snow Games Tier

There is a part of me that just wants to play as many snow games as possible for my Dynasty teams. These five teams give you the most likely chance to get as many snow games as possible. Also, the bonus of playing other schools in the conference with a chance of snow too! If you want a Snow Game Dynasty, these are likely the best meteorological chances for snow games. You will get to choose from MACtion or Mountain West choices with built-in rivalries who also have great chances of snow!

Colored Turf Tier

Gray, Blue or Teal. You have your choice to have the colored turf for your Dynasty. Each one of these teams presents a different colored turf dynasty mode. Eastern Michigan presents to you as a possible long haul Dynasty with the tough gray turf, plenty of MACtion and possible snow. Boise State presents the Mountain West with a good chance of snow on the Smurf Turf. Coastal Carolina brings an interesting playbook in the Fun Belt with the Surf Turf for fun in the Myrtle Beach sunshine. 

Fun but Here Due To Rivalry Tier

This is a college football post, after all. I had to pull some rivalry moves here. I get that Louisiana Tech doesn’t get along with ULM even though they are 30 miles away, but they are a fun Dynasty choice, or you could look at them as a long-term project choice or G5 Sickos Fun. The Ragin’ Cajuns are in the G5 Sickos Fun Dynasty tier and would be an interesting choice for your Dynasty. Justice for Cayenne. Arkansas State is likely the G5 Sickos Fun Dynasty tier, too, with the added bonus of a waterfall in the stadium. I just put them down here since they have beaten ULM for 14 straight years. No, I am not bitter about that at all. Why do you ask? (I’m very bitter about it, lol)

You Like Medium Salsa Sickos P4 Grab Bag Tier

If you want a Dynasty with a slight to moderate challenge but you are already in a Power Conference this tier is for you. You like to take mild to medium risks and don’t want to be too hard on yourself. It’s a video game and you want fun and not too easy. You like a little spice in your life but just don’t want to go for the Hot or Fire sauce and Medium Pace salsa is just enough. Whichever one of these teams you choose, you have some advantages but don’t match the giants or what they call the “blue bloods” of College Football.

These are perfectly acceptable choices for a Dynasty and there is no judgment here from me. Each one of these schools have had varying degrees of overall success but should be up and humming in no time. 

Insert Online Opinion Tier

Insert your opinion on Colorado. Go ahead, do it, I’m not doing it. You can if you want. Also, Colorado has some snow chances. 

You Probably Went Here, Family Did, or Live There Tier

This is the case for me here, and it could likely be for you. My (latent) Miami Hurricane fandom was provided to me by my mom, who lived in Hialeah, Florida, growing up. I got to see the Hurricanes of the 80s and 90s play in the Orange Bowl in person. I have an emotional attachment to them. If you don’t have any attachment to Miami, you’d likely not consider this team as your Dynasty choice, and you’d place them in the tier below or maybe in the Sickos Grab Bag tier. 

The same goes for the rest of these teams here; you likely have some sort of connection to these teams to pick them as your Dynasty choice. Your uncle went to Wisconsin, and you got to Jump Around as a kid; you went to Cincinnati and love Skyline Chili; you loved watching Enter Sandman along with Michael Vick on TV, and it caused you to go to Virginia Tech. There is no judgment if you pick them as a Dynasty choice, but I doubt you would unless you fit the criteria I listed above. However, I am known to be wrong all the time.

Only Schedule Them to Beat Them Tier

This is the Sickos Committee, after all. We root for the underdogs at all times, and playing as the best teams in the game just doesn’t fit well with us. I get it if you are a fan of this team or went here to choose one of these as your Dynasty team. Most likely, these schools will be in the Top 25, and I want to put these teams on the schedule, bolster my schedule strength, and upset them at their place. Whether you want to dip your toes in the 20-25 range, 10-20, or 1-10 range, you have schools here for that different level of ranked challenge. It is a video game, after all! You bet your ass I want to take Akron into the ‘Shoe and upset Ohio State for their first loss to an in-state team since 1921, but I may need to work my way up to that full-on challenge in the first year or two.

Next Year Tier

See you in the game next year Delaware and Missouri State.

As promised here is the full image with all the tiers.

I’ll likely post this online if I feel brave enough to post to the main feed. But argue here and get mad at me if you’d like. Thanks for reading!