EA Sports College Football Online Dynasty Rules

The SSG EA Sports College Football Online Dynasty league is based on the mission of sim gameplay, first and foremost. Our rules are subject to being changed–even midseason–if an issue has been identified that is grossly impacting this mission. We will do our best to handle rule changes quickly and appropriately.

Overview

  • EA Sports College Football 25 for PlayStation 5
  • 32 users across the ACC, B1G, B12, and SEC with 8 users in each conference
  • Default coaches (no custom coaches)
  • Custom schedules (starting with the 2025 season)
  • Coaching carousel in use along with Discord approval for new jobs (keeping the conference balance above)
  • No custom playbooks (but can use any team playbook)
  • Advances are every 72 hours at 8pm ET. Check our schedule for details
  • Conference realignment will be voted on each offseason. For the 2024 and 2025 seasons, no realignment will take place.
  • Offensive Skill: All-American
  • Defensive Skill: All-American
  • Custom Sliders (curated by Mike Lowe and our leadership team and reviewed very four in-game weeks)
  • Quarter Length: 12 Minutes
  • Clock Runoff: 15 seconds
  • Game Speed: Normal
  • Home Field Advantage: On
  • Playcall Coodown: 10
  • Playcall Limit: None
  • Ballhawk: Off
  • Heat Seeker: Off
  • Switch Assist: User preference

Gameplay

  • Switching on defense is allowed, with a few key exceptions:
    • You CANNOT switch while a pass is in the air.
    • You can only move one player manually pre-snap. Other adjustments must be done via the defensive adjustment menus.
  • Selecting the catch type on offense is allowed, but MUST be done in realistic moderation (not using possession catch on every 3rd down or when a guy is wide open.)
  • Hit Stick: Use in realistic moderation.
  • Stat padding goes against the mission of the league and is heavily frowned upon. Big games can happen organically, but since ALL games are being streamed/archived, this will be easy to see if guys are force-feeding players, using money players repeatedly, etc.

Repeated violations of any of the gameplay rules above can result in removal from the league.

Playcalling

  • Offense: Vary your runs, vary your formations, and vary your routes. Do not resort to go-to plays on most 3rd downs. We all have tendencies, but let’s open up the playbook for this league.
  • Defense: Vary your coverage, vary your formations, and vary your blitzes. If you have a team that is built to play more man feel free to do so. The same goes for zone schemes. Within your scheme you still need to call different zone/man plays.
  • You must always rush at least 3 defenders on every play, QB spy does not count as a rusher.

4th Down Rules

  • 4th down rules must fall in-line with the chart above (ESPN Analytics). This applies to normal circumstances.
  • When you are losing in the 4th quarter, you can go for it at anytime.
  • You do NOT have to follow this chart if you’d rather punt or kick a FG, and the chart does not mean that it should be automatic to go on 4th in this situation, as the game situation should help you determine this.
  • Fake punts/kicks can be done at anytime from any position on the field, but can never be used more than once in a game (per team). We encourage folks to keep this reasonable, meaning you do not HAVE to use one in every single game.

Play-Action

  • No play-action pass plays on 3rd and 6+ yards or 4th and 6+ yards.

No Huddle

  • Unless the no huddle has been listed as a team philosophy for the season on Discord, no more than 1 consecutive no huddle attempt can be called, and the play must be changed completely.
  • Exception: Only in the final 2 minutes of the 2nd and 4th quarters can you attempt a max of 3 consecutive no huddles, while changing the play completely.
  • If a team has designated the no huddle as a team philosophy on Discord, they are expected to utilize it frequently. No team should be designating a no huddle philosophy on Discord as a workaround to use it whenever they want.

QB Movement

  • QB should not be sprinting back 10 yards on drop-backs.
  • QB should not just sprint straight to the sidelines after the snap. Let the QB complete his drop-back motion, and then you can scramble if you are facing immediate pressure.
  • QB should not be constantly drifting to the right/left on a standard drop-back.
  • There are designed roll-outs in the game, but none of them sprint you to the sideline.

Hot Routes

  • No more than two hot routes (for players running routes) can be called during any offensive playcall. This relates to changing routes, so if you’re using max protect, that does not count as one of your two adjustments.

Chew Clock

  • No chew clock until the 4th quarter. Exception: if the losing team is down big and is trying to end the game (winning team can follow suit if they see this).

Offensive and Defensive Team Schemes

Each team must designate their offensive and defensive scheme at the start of each season. This helps with scouting opponents and ensures we have a gameplan that we’re doing our best to adhere to. Things can change during a season, but even with an injury, it’s rare when a team reinvents itself on the fly. Focus on building your team depth and/or having a scheme that will fit multiple key players at an important position.

No huddle: If you are a team planning to utilize a no-huddle offense, you must designate this along with your offensive team scheme.

Participation and Streaming

  • Games must be started before the advance deadline and including a posted link in Discord of the stream. Special exceptions will be made w advanced notice.
  • Missing back to back games or 3 games in one season, without proper communication, will result in removal from the league.
  • Each game (even vs CPU) must be streamed with an active link posted to the Discord before kickoff. The default setup is for the away team to stream, but users can agree to have the home team stream instead, if need be.
  • Your stream archive (usually for Twitch) MUST be set to on. Check this NOW. Do not wait. There is no excuse for not having ALL of your games archived for at least the current season. We need to check streams for potential rule violations and it also provides “film” for future opponents.

Sportsmanship

  • Restarts–most notably vs AI teams–are not tolerated. We understand sometimes things happen, and we the commissioners will handle each instance on a case-by-case basis. Penalties for restarts can range from a forced loss in another game week to expulsion from the league.
  • If you are winning big in the 4th quarter (24+ points), sub in the backups to get them experience. It also adds to the realism of college football and helps with wear and tear.
  • If your opponent has conceded defeat late in the game at a reasonable point (by running only and chewing clock) you need to pump the brakes and just take the victory.
  • If your opponent has NOT conceded defeat and is aggressively trying to come back (airing it out on offense & putting 8-9 men in the box run blitzing) the team in the lead is free to run their offense to keep the chains moving. The winning team is also free to score if they have an open lane to the end zone. Don’t score if you can run out the clock. Losing big is not an excuse to pad stats.

If you have a complaint, contact a Commissioner privately on Discord. Do not blast the main chat with a complaint about your opponent.

Game Scheduling

Communication is key for a successful league. Please don’t be lax or passive when it comes to contacting your opponent. Don’t play the waiting game.

Here’s how it should work:

  • Player A – Discord DM your opponent with the days and times that work for you during the advance window (not just “When can you play?”)
  • Player B will reply with what works for them, and you come to an agreement.

CPU Games

  • Teams are expected to play your AI opponent for any given week.
  • Any missed CPU games will result in a straight sim.
  • Repeatedly missing CPU games will result in removal from the league.

Disconnects

  • Disconnects will be handled on a case-by-case basis, but are best resolved between the two teams. Please make every attempt to get your games played.
  • Restarts vs a CPU opponent is one of the fastest ways to get yourself booted from the league. You better have an excellent reason and you better have a stream/archive of the incident.

Coaching Jobs

Once the league has officially begun, users can only switch teams at the end of a season using the coaching carousel if one of the eight user spot exists in that conference. Tiebreakers will be determined and announced in Discord based on various factors such as activity, etc.

Position Changes

  • No WR to TE
  • No WR to HB or HB to TE
  • LB’s can be moved to LE/RE and vice versa.
  • LE/RE can be moved to DT and vice versa.
  • Secondary positions can be moved to another secondary position (CB, SS, FS)
  • SS/FS can only be moved to a LB position if they are 220 lbs minimum, and 86 speed maximum.
  • No K or P position changes.
  • Athletes, upon entering NCAA, can be moved anywhere once. After THAT POINT, the rest of these rules would apply.
  • If you don’t see something listed here, please ask an admin before making the switch.

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