EA Sports College Football 26 Adds the Pop-Tarts Mascot, Dynamic Time of Day, and More

EA Sports College Football 26 launches on July 20th, and the developers at Electronic Arts are slowly rolling out new details about the next game in the series. Today, we got our first look at all the updates and changes coming to presentation mode. It’s full of exciting details, showing off the changes coming to the sideline, but the most popular reveal is that 35 new mascots are coming to CFB 26. Importantly, that includes the Pop-Tarts Bowl mascot.

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Unfortunately, the Pop-Tarts Bowl mascot will probably only show up at its bowl namesake, though we’re hopeful that you’ll be able to use it with your created team in Dynasty mode. Joining the Pop-Tart are mascots from the likes of Duke, Arkansas, Ohio, Northwestern, Air Force, Baylor, and many more. EA Sports hasn’t given fans the old Mascot Mode this year, but the growing roster of mascots could hint toward it coming in the next few years.

Outside of the new mascots, CFB 26 shared several other details. The most important presentation update is the introduction of dynamic time of day. This means the sun will move across the sky, changing stadium lighting from quarter to quarter. Games that start in the late afternoon will slowly transition to night by the fourth quarter, upping immersion. On top of that, you’ll notice differences based on region and the season. So, playing a later afternoon November game on the road against USC will feel very different from going up against Florida in The Swamp at the same time in August. That diversity should make Dynasty mode feel even more dynamic.

The developers at EA Sports have also gone through and given primetime games an even bigger feel. Runouts for special night games will feel much more iconic than playing at 11:00 AM against a cupcake. They’ve added drone shows for several programs and light shows for even more. Unfortunately, it doesn’t extend to every school, but CFB 26 does have a solid mix here to recreate real-world traditions. Alabama and Tennessee’s light show is getting just as much love as Texas State and Boston College’s.

There are also a few new traditional runouts. For example, Oklahoma’s Sooner Schooner is in the game and will run in front of the team to start the game. You can also streamline your runouts to get into a game quicker, and Road to Glory lets you participate in the runout with a player-controlled camera.

That’s just a sampling of everything CFB 26 is adding to the sideline. You’ll also notice new touchdown and turnover traditions, including the TCU Frog Horn and Oklahoma State’s Paddle People. The developers have brought back rivalry trophies, giving even more hype to those big games. And it wouldn’t be a new College Football game without new music and crowd chants. This year, you’ll hear iconic tunes like “Mr. Brightside,” “Seven Nation Army,” and “Enter Sandman” pumping through the speakers, and 16 new songs recorded by a real drumline.

It’s all shaping up to be another great year for College Football 26 off the field. And with how important pageantry is in the real-life sport, it’s an area EA has to nail each year. Thankfully, we don’t have to wait much longer to see for ourselves. EA Sports College Football 26 launches on July 10th for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.