EA keeps our hopes of NCAA Football alive with mysterious post

***Update***

After reaching out to EA for comment, we have received the following statement:

"We have no new plans or announcements to make regarding the EA SPORTS NCAA Football series. Today’s National Championship game reminds us more than ever that the hearts in our community still beat for college football."

We share EA's excitement for tonight's game, but I'm not losing hope in a new NCAA Football game. Time to begin the countdown to E3.

***Original***

For the first time in nearly a year-and-a-half, Electronic Arts' NCAA Football Facebook page has shown signs of life, suggesting a possible return for the fan-favorite college football franchise.

Just in time for tonight's big National Championship game between Clemson and Alabama, EA posted the following to their page:

(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = “//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3”; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));

The post has sparked speculation that EA is working to bring back the franchise, which I'm sure millions of college football fans would appreciate.

A well-received NCAA Football 14 was the last installment in franchise before EA decided to pull the plug completely as a result of the (at the time) "ongoing dispute between the NCAA and student-athletes who seek compensation for playing college football," which has since been settled.

Unfortunately, there are still a number of hurdles EA would have to overcome in order to create another college football game — mostly on the financial side of things. Even if EA could negotiate a payment for players' likenesses and school logos, the NCAA mandates that college athletes can not be paid. So until that's resolved EA finds itself in a very tricky situation.

When we last spoke to EA on the subject it was during the Ed-O'Bannon-NCAA trial. At the time, Madden creative director Rex Dickson told me there was a possibility of the NCAA Football series making a comeback in the future, but they wanted to sit back and wait to see what happens with the NCAA first.

With things appearing to return to normal within the NCAA and the College Football Playoff a roaring success in its first year (ratings down this year, but presumably due to a New Year's Eve scheduling), now would be a great time for EA to return to the long-awaited franchise.

While Madden has provided a decent substitute, it doesn't completely fill the void left by NCAA Football's departure. Nothing can replace those intense recruiting battles.