The classic football video game NCAA Football 14 has exploded in popularity in recent weeks, with many people looking for something to do during extra downtime due to the COVID-19 pandemic. If you’re lucky enough to be in possession of the game and an old console to play it on, Dynasty Mode allows for many different paths to have some fun. Depending on what you want to do in the game mode, these are the top teams to use in NCAA 14 Dynasty Mode.

 

[Please note that players mentioned are based on the fictional versions of the characters in the game (for example, QB #2).]

 

Jump right in and contend

You could go with No. 1 Alabama or No. 2 Ohio State and have a really great shot to win a national title in Dynasty Mode, but these four schools could present more of a challenge in the quest for a national championship in the 2013 and 2014 seasons and beyond.

 

Texas A&M Aggies

Johnny Manziel, man. While Manziel did not pan out in the NFL, “Johnny Football” was one of the most exciting college football players in history during his time with the Aggies. Manziel was able to become the first freshman to ever win the Heisman the year before NCAA 14 was released, and you could help the electric dual-threat quarterback and Texas A&M win the national title to begin your Dynasty Mode. It’ll obviously be a tough task competing in the SEC, and A&M is a great school that you could easily stay with for a while, or you can use as a steppingstone to an unquestioned elite top-tier program.

 

Oregon Ducks

Entering his true sophomore season with the Ducks, Marcus Mariota had already established himself as one of the top quarterbacks and overall players in college football. The breakneck speed of Oregon’s no-huddle offense would allow you to put up crazy numbers with Mariota at the helm, and they boasted a strong supporting cast including Byron Marshall, Josh Huff, Bralon Addison, and the explosive and versatile De’Anthony Thomas. Also, the defense had future NFL stars Arik Armstead and DeForest Buckner leading the defensive line. Oh, and you can’t go wrong with the uniform options of the Ducks.

 

Clemson Tigers

Dabo Swinney built the Clemson Tigers into an absolute powerhouse in college football. Can you do the same in NCAA 14? You’ll have to be a master recruiter like Dabo was to get guys like Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence to the program, but you’ll be well off to start the game with senior Tajh Boyd at quarterback and Sammy Watkins, Martavis Bryant, and Adam Humphries at receiver (along with a freshman Mike Williams). It might be fun to start out at Clemson as a coordinator under Dabo before making the move to another program as a head coach within a few years.

 

Stanford Cardinal

In 2013, Stanford entered the season as No. 3 in the preseason rankings, but they weren’t able to get over the hump into a national championship appearance, finishing 11th in the final AP poll after an 11-3 campaign. Kevin Hogan, Tyler Gaffney, and Ty Montgomery were memorable players that headlined the offense, and the Cardinal pride themselves on playing tough, smart football. Stanford wasn’t quite as potent athletically as the previous three schools and some other contending options you could go with (like Florida or Oklahoma), but trying to keep them among the top three teams and in the BCS mix all season would make them a worthy choice.

 

Build it up

These teams aren’t ready to be national championship contenders in 2013, but you can build them up into conference champions—and eventually, top-ten powers. Maybe you’ll want to start as a coordinator at one of these schools and hope to get job offers at bigger programs in the future.

 

Army Black Knights

There is a case for Army being in the next category, but they are given one star (out of six) in the NCAA 14 program rankings after a 2-10 season in 2012. Running the triple-option offense could be something you could get used to and bring to future gigs, or you could get the defense to play stout as a coordinator on that side of the ball. And, while perhaps it would be going too much against tradition, you could also bring an innovative spread attack to the Black Knights and see what happens.

 

Kentucky Wildcats

Good luck with this, but if you really wanted to be tested, trying to make Kentucky a perennial contender in the SEC is about as hard as it gets in NCAA 14. The Wildcats went 2-10 the year before the game came out, and they went 2-10 again in 2013. Mark Stoops built the school up to a No. 11 ranking and a ten-win season in 2018, and it would be quite a job if you could pull that off in the video game.

 

SMU Mustangs

SMU was a college football power in the early 1980s, but the dreaded “death penalty” set the Mustangs back in a major way. Building them up to again become a national title contender would likely be one of the most satisfying accomplishments in NCAA 14. SMU is in Texas, so you’ll have major access in perhaps the best state for high school football to recruit top athletes to the program.

 

Temple Owls

A few of the American conference teams along with SMU would be fun (including UCF, which self-claimed a 2017 national title after an undefeated season in real life), but Temple is another school that was able to become a top-25 team in the years after the release of NCAA 14. The Owls were a key step for Matt Rhule on his way to the NFL, and they are a prime spot to make the jump from to a top school in the game.

 

Bring back to glory

These programs are basically fallen powers at the time of NCAA 14, so they are ideal options to bring back among the nation’s premier college football schools.

 

Michigan Wolverines

Michigan was ranked ahead of the 2013 season, but the program was arguably still feeling the impact from the stunning 2007 loss to Appalachian State, and they hadn’t recorded back-to-back seasons of double-digit wins since 2002-2003. The Wolverines simply haven’t been a juggernaut like Ohio State has been in recent years, so overtaking the rival Buckeyes would be among the best feats in NCAA 14.

 

Penn State Nittany Lions

Despite all of the success under Joe Paterno, the brush with the death penalty brought Penn State down a peg among college football’s top programs (and down to five stars instead of six in NCAA 14’s rankings). The defense had future NFL star Adrian Amos at safety, and the phenomenal Allen Robinson at receiver, so there were impact players on both sides of the ball in Year 1. Also, it would be interesting to try to elevate top quarterback recruit Christian Hackenberg, who was a true freshman in the first year of the game.

 

USC Trojans

The 2012 USC team was 7-6 despite a preseason No. 1 ranking, and Lane Kiffin was fired during the 2013 campaign (as an interim head coach, Ed Orgeron took over and led the Trojans to a 6-2 record that year). USC had promising freshman safety Su’a Cravens on the backend of the defense, while the offense had Cody Kessler at quarterback and Nelson Agholor and Marqise Lee at receiver. The Trojans have since won a Rose Bowl under Clay Helton, but you could help them virtually become national champions again.

 

Miami Hurricanes

It’s fun when Miami is great, but the Hurricanes haven’t finished a season in the top five of the rankings since they joined the ACC in 2004. You’ll have speed and athletes to start (Duke Johnson, Stacy Coley, Allen Hurns, Phillip Dorsett among them), and athletic recruits will always be intrigued by the idea of joining “The U”. Whoever brings Miami back to its glory days in real life might become an instant legend, and you can give it a shot in NCAA 14.