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EA Sports ranks Iowa's Kinnick Stadium as No. 20 in Toughest Places to Play rankings

On3 imageby:Sam Gillenwater•06/25/24•

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The Big Ten announced future football schedules. Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images

Kinnick Stadium is certainly known for at least one game day tradition that’s among the best in all of college football. Now, the rest of the stadium has gotten respect from ratings in the virtual space.

EA College Football 25 ranked Kinnick, home of the Iowa Hawkeyes, at No. 20 in their Toughest Places to Play. That’s due to how they factored in historical stats such as home winning percentage, home game attendance, active home winning streaks, team prestige, and more.

Kinnick Stadium, located at 825 Evashevski Drive, is about to be in use for its 95th season in 2024 after opening in 1929. However, it was renamed in 1972 for Nile Kinnick, a halfback for the Hawkeyes that finished as an all-time player in program history.

Iowa most recently renovated the stadium in 2019 with an $89 million development by Kinnick Edge. That was the latest upgrade to the space since 2006 when it underwent a two-year, $90 million restoration.

With those renovations, Kinnick Stadium holds a capacity of 69,250. With that said, one of it’s most significant attendance records isn’t even for Iowa Football. Women’s Basketball actually set that number just last year with a preseason exhibition titled the ‘Crossover at Kinnick’. With that, they set the sport’s all-time attendance record with 55,646 fans coming to watch Caitlin Clark, who had a triple-double, and the Hawkeyes win 94-72 over DePaul.

Still, the most notable tradition there is obviously The Hawkeye Wave. With Kinnick Stadium positioned right next to UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital, the crowd will turn to the patients in the windows after the first quarter and wave to them. This began in 2017 with the program now adding a kid captain for each home game.

Iowa has created something special at their home field, especially with the well-known wave. That has since earned respect as a Top-20 environment in the entire sport for EA.

EA Sports College Football 25 releases breakdown of gameplay

College football fans have an in-depth gameplay breakdown of the heavily anticipated EA Sports College Football 25 video game.

The breakdown focused on the new in-game feature called “CampusIQ” including the “Wear & Tear System’. ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit narrated the breakdown.

Per EA, “As the hits add up, players wear down with the Wear & Tear System. Manage your players’ health, limit fatigue, assess the risk of injury and avoid on-field mistakes by using strategic substitutions to ensure your players are at their best with it counts the most.”

Mental and player abilities will also be included in the game, specifically made for veterans in the game. Players can have up to eight abilities with different levels to achieve. The breakdown also included a revamped passing game.

Home-field advantage is also back. Players can test their squad’s road game composure and confidence levels with distractions like screen shaking, missing pre-play icons and moving play art.

The franchise has been dormant for more than a decade and is slated to be released on July 19. Available on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, EA announced gamers will have three editions. The standard base game costs $69.99. The deluxe edition allows three-day early access and a slew of perks, priced at $99.99. The MVP bundle is priced at $149.99 and includes an early release for EA Sports College Football 25 and Madden. The video game will not be offered on PC.