While the iPhone app market is still flooded with too many bland, team-based apps and near-useless pocket schedules, there are more than a few gems in the App Store for you college football fans. And with the beginning of the season inching closer and closer this is as good a time as any to reveal them.
Whether you crave news about your favorite program or are looking for live scoring, chances are this list has you covered. In fact, the only thing the iPhone can’t help you with is landing your team a Heisman-quality quarterback; though word is developers are working on it…
College Football Live!
Every time I write about college football apps Plusmo’s College Football Live! (make sure you get the one with the exclamation mark) is at or near the top of the list. While it’s not perfect, the app it is the most comprehensive, and that is tricky proposition for a sport that has so many teams. The app is also stable and has plenty of features, such as schedules, conference standing, polls and news. Maybe more importantly, you get live scoring and social networking features on the app. The only thing missing here is multimedia content, though again given that the app covers the entire sport it would be near impossible to provide relevant content and make everyone happy. The full version of the app is called College Football Live! Plus and will cost you $1.99 to eliminate those always pesky advertisements; whether you go for the free one or the paid one, this app remains the one must download for college football fans.
College Football Game Day Program 2010
Let me get this out of the way – though College Football Game Day Program 2010 is initially a free download, it uses the in-app purchase system. So to get individual teams, you’ll have to spend 99 cents. Further, conferences cost $1.99 and just buying everything will cost you $9.99. That shouldn’t be viewed as a bad thing, though, as this app is bringing sanity to the app store; instead of a developer releasing hundreds of apps that use the same template to cover every imaginable team, RMB Management has done the same thing with one app. You get the standard stuff with the app, such as schedules, scores, rosters, team and player stats, all in a not-to-flashy (but effective) presentation. One more downside, the app doesn’t work on iOS versions 4.0 and above, an issue that’s being looked into but will have to be addressed for this app to make any impact.
Dave Campbell’s Texas Football
I don’t know how much weight the name Dave Campbell outside of Texas, but growing up in the state I can assure you there are few football publications as highly respected as the annual Dave Campbell’s Texas Football. It’s now made it way to the iPhone and is highly recommended for fans in the state, but iPhone users outside of the Lone Star State shouldn’t ignore the $1.99 app either. While it’s devoted to college and high school teams in Texas, there are recruiting lists and top 25’s for every high school class that those of you who follow recruiting will eat up. In addition to news provided by TexasFootball.com, the app also provides detailed write-ups on all the state’s Football Bowl Subdivision teams. Texas Football gives you access to the 2010 Summer and Winter issues as well as exclusive e-reader content, a nice deal for only two dollars.
Notre Dame Central
While I’m making my biases known, it should be written that I couldn’t care less about Notre Dame football. But that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate Notre Dame Central, a (now) free app released last year that provides a ridiculous amount of multimedia content. The app streamed all eight of the team’s home games, and even now you can watch those as well as classic contests. Of course it has all the standard schedule, news and stats as well, leading me to question why we’re still stuck with so many terrible team-based apps when something like this is possible. Obviously Notre Dame’s television deal with NBC is the reason this app is possible, but I can dream of a future when something like this is offered for all major college football programs.
NCAA Football by EA Sports
I always like to throw a bone to you gamers out there, and fortunately this year I have a bone to throw at you – the debut of NCAA Football by EA Sports ($6.99) on the iPhone. And while having a college football game is a huge step, this one isn’t without some issues. Most notably, there are ‘only’ 55 teams included in the game, a huge number for an app but also one that will leave many without the option of playing as their favorite team. Also, the dynasty mode was always my favorite part of the franchise and that’s not included, instead you can play a single season or multiplayer via Bluetooth. Aside from that the game is pretty impressive, with a look and gameplay very similar to Madden (no surprise). You can also create your own teams, a small consolation to fans who get left out due to the reduced number of teams. Keep in mind this is really only the third full football game series we’ve seen on the iPhone and you’ll be plenty happy with the results.
