NCAA Champions
...in the FORTY-SECOND year of a Dynasty, believe it or not.Okay, I think I've figured out the maximum enjoyment that can be had from NCAA 2006. It's grown on me--there are still some glaring flaws, but the game does many things extremely well.
Unfortunately, the game doesn't play well without the right sliders. It just doesn't. With the defaults, it's a totally wild arcade game, which is fun for a short while and then becomes very annoying. The sliders I posted a few days ago are very tough, but with relatively evenly matched teams the deep ball problem is gone--throw that bomb on every play and you'll get sacked frequently and throw a ton of picks.
The national championship game was against Miami. It was bruising, smash mouth football, with lots of big hits and great defensive plays. I was behind 10-7 at halftime and lucky to be that close, but in the second half, I went on two drives and took a 17-10 lead. Miami threw into the end zone on the last play of the game but it was incomplete.
Now if you've played NCAA this year, you know how atypical that kind of game is. Most of the games are total shootouts--games with both teams scoring over forty points are common. So that's why I recommend these sliders if you want an intense, hard-hitting game. It feels much more like college football to me.
Here are a couple of notes that might enhance your enjoyment of Dynasty mode. First, don't change your schedule. The way to game Dynasty is to play a terrible schedule, because number of wins determines recruiting points. If you don't do that, Dynasty mode is much more challenging. Take the schedule as generated, then change home/away to get the appropriate number of each (the CPU does an awful job with assigning home/away, even though it chooses a nice assortment of opponenets).
Second, start with a weak, weak team. The recruiting model is excellent until your team reaches five stars, and then recruiting becomes far too easy. Starting off with a one star program, though, is appropriately difficult, and you'll really be scrambling to attract enough players with the recruiting points you have.
Lastly, sim all your games except for one or two that you pre-select before the regular season begins. That means for you to win the national championship, three things have to break in your favor:
1. The schedule (which you don't control).
2. The simulated games (which you don't control).
3. The games you actually play (and since you'll be picking the premier games to play, they'll all be difficult).
Like I said, this game has grown on me significantly. Building a program from scratch by starting with a doormat is a very satisfying experience. It's too bad that the default sliders make for such a weak experience, but the rest of the game is good enough that I'm glad I invested the time to tweak them.
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