College football season is here once again, meaning it's time to join the 2021 TGT College Pick 'Em group on ESPN.com! Click here to join.


Each week, pick the winner of ten selected match-ups and rank your picks by confidence. The winner of the season long competition will receive a $20 gift card of their choosing. The Pick 'Em is free to join, so all are welcome to invite friends and family as well.

Continue on for full details on how to join. ...

Following the recent conference realignment news and rumors, @cdj80 and @JBHuskers look at the Custom Conferences feature from NCAA Football 14 and talk about how it should look in EA SPORTS College Football.

Follow the link to watch the Video Podcast and share your thoughts on the show along with future topics.

The Gaming Tailgate Podcast is also available on Spotify and iTunes.

To submit show feedback, ask a question, or suggest a topic for a future show, e-mail the guys at podcast AT thegamingtailgate.com or post your thoughts below. ...

With the SEC adding Oklahoma and Texas in the near future and more conference shake-ups likely, the Custom Conferences feature from NCAA Football may find itself being a necessary addition to the EA SPORTS College Football franchise sooner rather than later.

In NCAA Football 14, the feature allowed users to move teams among existing conferences (with conference size restrictions), import teambuilder teams, rename divisions, set BCS automatic qualifiers, as well as providing other options for the conference.

What options/improvements would you like to see in any future version of the Custom Conferences feature in EA SPORTS College Football?

Share your thoughts and ideas with the community and we'll highlight them in a future edition of The Gaming Tailgate Podcast. ...

In a press release announcing the inclusion of The Old Course at St Andrews Links in EA SPORTS PGA TOUR, the company also revealed that the game will include the fan favorite three-click swing method as well as brand-new swing mechanics that will be detailed in the coming months before the game's scheduled spring 2022 release.

Excerpt: Inspired by The Open’s rich history and historic 150th championship, EA SPORTS looks to its own long history of making golf video games since 1990 to inspire their next generation golf experience. In addition to playing the Old Course at St Andrews Links, EA SPORTS PGA TOUR players can also look forward to the return of fan favorite gameplay elements such as the three-click swing method which will make its return alongside analog and brand-new swing mechanics which will be detailed further in the coming months.

Continue on to read the entire press release. ...

The latest Madden NFL 22 developer deep dive video and blog focuses on Dynamic Gameday - features designed to help make each game feel unique.

There are three core components of Dynamic Gameday: Gameday Momentum, Gameday Atmosphere, and Next Gen Stats: Star-Driven AI.

Gameday Momentum features a Momentum Meter that its perks, M-Factors. M-Factors can be unlocked or taken away depending on the status of the Momentum Meter. Per the dev blog: "M-Factors are team-wide effects that vary between boosting a team’s performance and providing additional challenges to overcome throughout the course of a game. ... The M-Factors that are available in each game will always vary, based on where the game is played or what the elements are so that each game will feel like a different experience." A feature more prominently found in NCAA Football historically, Home Field Advantage, comes to M22. The home team will receive an extra stadium specific M-Factor but it will be the first disabled if the road team gets the momentum first.

Gameday Atmosphere focuses on improved atmosphere, broadcast, and presentation. This includes new crowd animations and created super fan characters, remastered real crowd audio recordings, as well as improved sideline and organic on-field player reactions. It also features Gameday Conditions, which are modifications to gameplay that will affect each team equally, either as a benefit or detriment.

Finally, Next Gen Stats - Star-Driven AI will "drive AI behaviors and tendencies at both a player level and team level."

Continue on to see the Dynamic Gameday Deep Dive video and blog which also contains notes on core gameplay improvements such as improved player movement, tackling, catching, blocking, and more. ...

Journalist Ben Baskin and his 'Lost in Sports' podcast has devoted an episode to NCAA Football, focusing on the success of the franchise and also what led to its ultimate end.

The 40 minute show features clips from former dev team members Jeff Luhr and Dan Baker, as well as Sam Keller and Sonny Vaccaro, whose lawsuits targeted EA Sports claiming improper use of player likenesses.

Show description: For years, EA Sports produced an extremely popular, and extremely accurate, college football video game— with all the NCAA teams, stadiums, mascots, traditions, and, yes, the actual players. And then it was gone, leaving its cult fanbase enraged and fighting to keep the game alive. Ben explores the NCAA Football video game series, how it was made, why it went away, and how its loss exposed what it really means to be a college athlete.

Follow the link to listen to the show. ...

A year ago, a lackluster list of improvements to Madden NFL 21's Franchise Mode led to #FixMaddenFranchise to become one of the top trends on Twitter. In the aftermath of this embarrassment, the Madden NFL development team worked to release post-launch updates to improve the Franchise experience in M21. Heading into Madden NFL 22, the additions and improvements to Franchise Mode have been presented upfront and perhaps as part of the primary focus of the game.

Some of the big additions include a Coaching Staff (OC, DC, Player Personnel) that can be upgraded through 'Staff Points,' and Talent Trees that provide boosts for each Franchise Staff member. (The Franchise Staff and Talent Tree models appear reminiscent of those similarly found in NCAA Football 14.)

Planned to arrive in a September update is an improved Scouting system. A deeper look at this system will come on July 19. Other improvements include Weekly Strategy, new Season Engine scenarios, redesigned Franchise Mode hub, tuning and quality of life improvements, among other additions.

Continue on to see the Franchise Mode trailer, links to Madden developer podcasts, and the Franchise Mode blog. ...

Madden season has begun as EA SPORTS released the Madden NFL 22 cover athletes, release date(s), and first game feature overview.

The rumors from early spring proved correct as the M22 MVP Edition will feature Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes as the cover athletes. The Deluxe and MVP Editions will be available on August 17, with the standard version released on August 20. Information on the differences between the pre-order bonuses for the versions can be found here.

Based on the trailer and early game previews from media, M22 will focus on improved game atmosphere with 'Homefield Advantage' and 'Dynamic Gameday' with the goal of making each game and season unique.

The first game info also highlighted improvements coming to Franchise Mode, ...

In this edition of the TGT Podcast, @cdj80 and @JBHuskers take the feature set of Madden NFL 21 and rank them as they think the College Football community would like to see them added into the franchise.

Follow the link to watch the Video Podcast and share your thoughts on the show along with future topics. ...