Darrell K. Royal Stadium Ranked Among Toughest Places to Play in EA Sports College Football 25

The home of the Texas Longhorns makes its way into the top 20 toughest stadiums to play at in the new EA CFB 25 game, releasing in late July.

With under a month left before the official release of EA CFB 25, EA’s team is working to generate as much hype as possible, sometimes to the chagrin of fanbases. This is extremely inevitable when ranking how hard it is to play in every team in the nation’s stadium, something that can’t be tracked by just a singular number.

The Texas Longhorns and Darrell K Royal Stadium were ranked as the 19th-toughest place to play in the nation, sandwiched in between Utah’s Rice-Eccles Stadium and Iowa’s Kinnick Stadium.

The top three schools include LSU’s Tiger Stadium, Alabama’s Bryant Denny Stadium, and Texas A&M’s Kyle Field. As one would assume, the rankings have sparked controversy all over social media, and it’s hard to find a Texas fan account that’s happy with their ranking, especially compared to the Aggie's number one spot.

In EA’s new game, releasing on July 19, home-field advantage will make a major impact on the games you play in. If you want to play as the Longhorns in the “Dynasty Mode” to start the season, expect to play in three of the top 25 hardest stadiums. The Longhorns will play at No. 23 Arkansas’s Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium, No. 16 Michigan Stadium from the Michigan Wolverines, and of course, Kyle Field to round out the season.

Texas White team running back Jaydon Blue runs the ball in for a touchdown in the Longhorns' spring Orange and White game at Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas, April 20, 2024. / Sara Diggins/American-Statesman / USA

The stadium rankings kicked off the start of EA CFB’s “Rankings Week”, a period of four days where the team’s ratings will be revealed ahead of the 2024 season. Texas dropped lower in the stadium rankings, but it’s unlikely they are outside of the top 10 in any of the other categories released over the next three days.

On the 26th, fans will get a sights and sounds deep dive into the game, with some of the first looks at gameplay being available to fans. On the 27th, the top offenses and defenses will be announced, where Texas will likely make an appearance in both.

Finally, on the 28th, overall team power rankings will be announced. It’s hard to imagine Texas drops anywhere outside of the top five teams ahead of the 2024 season, especially given their third-place spot in ESPN’s post-spring top 25 rankings.

Hype could not be higher for one of the most anticipated video game releases in recent memory, and more is still to come for Longhorn fans and the college football world alike.

You can view the full list of rankings below (SEC in Bold):

1. Kyle Field – Texas A&M
2. Bryant-Denny Stadium – Alabama
3. Tiger Stadium – LSU
4. Ohio Stadium – Ohio State
5. Sanford Stadium – Georgia
6. Beaver Stadium – Penn State
7. Camp Randall Stadium – Wisconsin
8. Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium – Oklahoma
9. Doak S. Campbell Stadium – Florida State
10. Ben Hill Griffin Stadium – Florida
11. Autzen Stadium – Oregon
12. Memorial Stadium – Clemson
13. Neyland Stadium – Tennessee
14. Jordan-Hare Stadium – Auburn
15. Williams-Brice Stadium – South Carolina
16. Michigan Stadium – Michigan
17. Lane Stadium – Virginia Tech
18. Rice-Eccles Stadium – Utah
19. Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium – Texas
20. Kinnick Stadium – Iowa
21. Notre Dame Stadium – Notre Dame
22. Spartan Stadium – Michigan State
23. Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium – Arkansas
24. Albertsons Stadium – Boise State
25. Davis Wade Stadium – Mississippi State