Who Will Be Tennessee’s High Rated Player in College Football 25? The Odds Are Here

The excitement for EA Sports’ highly-anticipated return to the college football virtual world has been building over the last decade and is now reaching a fever pitch with the game just months away from release.

After the franchise was shelved following NCAA ’14 due to name, image, and likeness concerns and a lawsuit, recent NIL changes have opened the door for the return of the game. College football players are being offered $600 and a free copy of the game (likely worth $70 at release) to be in the game, but the EA developers have said that the game can be played without real-life players opting in.

The game will also feature incredibly realistic stadiums, crowd shots, and the unique details that each program brings to the table when games are being played in their home stadium.

So far, it just looks as though Tennessee wide receiver Bru McCoy has been the only player to opt into the game. According to EA’s John Reseberg, though, more than 5,000 players have opted into the game since Feb. 22, 2024.

Let’s take a step back and hypothetically suppose that all of Tennessee’s players will be in the upcoming College Football 25 video game this summer.

Who will be the highest-ranked Tennessee player?

The RTI team recently discussed this question on the RTI: Press Pass podcast and came up with an answer of EDGE rusher James Pearce Jr. as Tennessee’s highest player, though the big debate revolved around what ranking former five-star quarterback Nico Iamaleava will have.

Fortunately for us, though, Lou Monaco of Bet Tennessee has the odds out for Tennessee’s highest-rated player in the video game.

Monaco’s report from Bet Tennessee has the following odds:

For more on Tennessee player-rating odds, check out Monaco’s report for Bet Tennessee by clicking here.

More from RTI: Analyzing What a Path to the Playoffs Could Look Like for Tennessee Football

Some quick things to note:

Unsurprisingly, Pearce has the best odds to be Tennessee’s highest-rated player. Pearce ended the 2023 season as a First Team All-SEC selection by the AP and the coaches and was a two-time SEC defensive lineman of the week selection this past year. Pearce also capped off his sophomore season with an unbelievable game against Iowa in a shutout win during the Citrus Bowl.

Iamaleava is in the “other” category, which probably makes the most sense. As much hype as there has been around Iamaleava, Tennessee fans and some experts around the league are already predicting Iamaleava as one of the top quarterbacks in the conference. He does have the sixth-best Heisman odds according to FanDuel, after all.

But it makes sense why Iamaleava won’t be the Vols’ highest-rated player off the bat. He lacks the proven experience that some of Tennessee’s other players (such as Cooper Mays, Javontez Spraggins, and Omari Thomas) have. Iamaleava is a good pick for one of Tennessee’s fastest-rising players, though.

The other odds, for the most part, are perfectly reasonable. Perhaps Keenan Pili should be a few spots down because he is coming off of a season-ending injury, but the former BYU linebacker still has plenty of miles on his cleats and has been an experienced and proven player in the college football world since 2002 (kidding, 2019).

For what it’s worth, here is what my order of rankings would be for Tennessee’s players in the upcoming College Football 25 video game: Pearce Jr., Cooper Mays, Javontez Spraggins, Bru McCoy, Keenan Pili, Dylan Sampson, Lance Heard, Nico Iamaleava, and Jermod McCoy.

What do you think, Tennessee fans? Sound off in the comments below! And be sure to check out BetTennessee for more on the Vols’ College Football 25 odds.