With the demo for NCAA Basketball due out tomorrow (approximately 2am PT for the 360, 3pm PT for the PS3) here is the always fun to discuss first look at player ratings. Game Cinema HD has lists of the top 20 players at each position and their overall rating. I expect the initial reaction will be that the numbers are strikingly low. However make sure to take into consideration that now with the NBA Live engine there are a ton of ratings categories that factor into an overall. Players can ...

Operation Sports has provided the first opportunity to see gameplay from NCAA Basketball 09 with a video of North Carolina @ Duke. It goes from the loading shoot-around through just over the first four minutes of the first quarter. Just some quick observations I made from the video: There is little info given pre-game, with the lineups showing nothing but the player # and name (or in this case their position). It isn't giving any info to use such as you see with Live's DNA. There shou...

I have added 25 new screenshots in the gallery. The Xbox 360 Achievements for the game can be found here. I've never liked achievements that I immediately recognize I'll never have a chance at or that force you to play the game in an unorthodox manner. There are a few of those on that list for 09. There will also be accomplishments tied into EA Sports World for both the 360 and PS3 but no trophy support for the PS3. The EA Sports World page for the game just went live. Though we haven'...

I have been informed that the demo for NCAA Basketball 09 will be out for both the PS3 and 360 next Thursday, November 6th. That means it'll be available nearly two weeks ahead of the release date for the game (Tuesday 11/18). This should present a good chance to experience the much touted tempo feature as well as offer an opportunity for those abandoned by College Hoops to try the game out without any risk. The demo will consist of two match-ups: Kentucky vs Tennessee and 1979 Michigan S...

We've gotten good NCAA Basketball 09 impressions from around the community. Now Jon Robinson of ESPN has posted up his thoughts on the game along with plenty of details. That means that this is the first game to not only feature the majority of Division 1 coaches, but these guys actually help you throughout your on-court rivalries and tournaments in terms of managing tempo, fatigued players, and shot selection by appearing in a pop-up window throughout the game with words of encouragement o...

Readers of the site were first to know that a potential release date change was coming for NCAA Basketball 09, and only a matter of hours later it was confirmed. The game is now set to release on Tuesday November 18th. Along with that news came some information about the game itself. Real schedules in dynasty mode, something that had been missing from the March Madness series, was guaranteed to be in this year. However now we find out that the game will ship without them but they will be ...

Both Gamefly and Amazon have changed the release date for NCAA Basketball 09 to Tuesday November 18th. While there is no confirmation of a push up in release for the game it does seem curious that two retailers would change it from the previously announced December 3rd with both settling on a date two weeks earlier. Currently the official website for the game and Gamestop still display NCAA as releasing in the first week of December. Occasionally release dates on retail sites will fluctua...

EA Sports has revealed the Top 25 rated teams in NCAA Basketball 09. Leading the way this year is North Carolina. The winner of the National Championship last year Kansas comes in at #17. I'm especially encouraged to see Washington slip in at #25. The way things are going for teams in Washington State though will I'm fully expecting a terrible season ahead. Continue on to view the full Top 25. IGN has also posted up news on and an interview regarding the partnership with Blue Ribbon, whic...

Operation Sports has received the first screenshots and producer blog for NCAA Basketball 09. You can check out the screens here and the blog here. The producer blog details the use of the NBA Live engine and how they've improved upon it and made it unique for the college game. As a production team, we all knew that we had to continue to invest in creating an authentic college basketball experience. We needed to continue to capture everything that is unique about college basketball – from...