Auburn Marching Band selected to record EA Sports College Football theme song

If you’re a fan of the EA Sports college football video game franchise, I know you’re counting down the days for this season’s edition to be released.

And while everyone is looking forward to choosing a new mid major for dynasty mode or finding the perfect SEC school for your Road to Glory, plenty of fans on The Plains will be anticipating the menu music.

Every time you launch EA Sports College Football 26, you’ll get to hear the Auburn University Marching Band. The university recently announced it was selected to record the opening back in December.

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A post shared by Auburn University Drumline (@auburn.drums)

According to EA Sports, the song recorded will play during the “Press Start” screen before entering the main menu of the game.

“We worked with the Auburn University Marching Band, under the leadership of Marching Band Director Dr. Corey Spurlin, to record a version of our theme for College Football ‘26. Auburn University was selected because they were the 2023 Metallica Marching Band contest winner. We couldn’t have found a more amazing and talented group of musicians to work with on this, and we can’t wait to find the next Band to feature in EA Sports College Football.”

EA Sports

The game is schedule to be released on July 10 with a 3-day early access available to purchase.

Metallica Marching Band competition

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Auburn got the attention of EA Sports by winning a marching band competition put on by the iconic metal band Metallica. You can still watch the full show from November 2023.

For Whom The Band Tolls is an annual competition and this partnership with EA Sports seems like it could become a tradition.

While Auburn won its competition before knowing it would come with an extra minute in the spotlight, the 2025 competition is already taking applications. And EA Sports will once again be involved.

“Bands who enter the competition will have access to a library of marching band charts for Metallica songs, provided by Hal Leonard via sheetmusicdirect.com. The members of Metallica will select the winning performances, who will win musical equipment for their school program, furnished by our sponsors. NEW: The 1^st place Division 1 College winner will have the opportunity to record a Metallica song and the EA SPORTS™ College Football Theme Song and have their recordings included in EA SPORTS™ College Football.“

For Whom The Band Tolls

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