Just as for NFL 2k3, Sega has partnered with ESPN to enhance the presentation of NCAA 2k3, and it goes a long way. The whole game is packaged in a presentation that befits the king of sports networks, and it's easy to forget that you're watching a video game and not the latest installment of Sportscenter. It's lacking the college flavor provided by ESPN's college football broadcast team, though. You'll have to pick up EA's NCAA 2003 to see them.

Unfortunately, the broadcasters aren't the only thing missing when it comes to putting you in the mood for college football. You'll hear only the occasional fight song in the background of a game and the stadiums, though they look good, don't show the attention to detail we've come to expect. Most egregious is the lack of any player names whatsoever. All players are identified by only a jersey number, even in the rosters. I don't expect every play-by-play call to announce the player by name, but it's nice when it happens once in a while. Here it's not even possible. And it's just not as interesting to win a Heisman trophy and see it up in lights written as: "RB – Kent State."

The gameplay is entertaining, but you'll notice a few idiosyncrasies right away. You'll see a lot of poor passes (regardless of your quarterback choice), poor tackling (even for a computer-controlled player), hot and cold A.I. and many, many wide open receivers dropping balls. This is probably the most frustrating aspect of NCAA 2k3. Even if you throw the ball at the perfect moment in the pattern and there isn't a DB in sight, you've still only got a fifty-fifty chance of completion. Hands of stone abound, and as often as you'll hear the announcers criticize the receiver or the quarterback you'd think they would have thrown in a line about how it's been going on all day.

Obviously, this game slightly favors running the football. Most of the time you'll get a steady stream of four yard gains with the possibility of a big run. The occasional stop for a loss keeps you thinking, but the odds are definitely in your favor with the ball on the ground. I don't have a problem with this trend because it's not as if they're giving a devastating running game to lousy teams or creating huge holes for you to run through. Average to good teams create an average to good push off the line of scrimmage and that creates average to good numbers at the end of the day. With running slightly easier than real life and passing a little harder, NCAA 2k3 strikes a solid balance. It just might not be the type of balance everyone enjoys.

The control and movement of players is pretty good. Not the level of this year's NFL games, but still good enough to make the game fun. There are times, particularly during open field tackles, when the animations don't gel quite right. A runner going to his left can be hit by a tackler from his right and suddenly he's facing the tackler because that's the animation that kicks in. It's a little jarring. As is the sliding effect you'll see when a relatively motionless player gets clocked by someone at a dead run. It happens mostly to quarterbacks in the pocket and ball carriers in the middle of a juke or spin move – you'll see both players slide in the direction of the momentum like they're wearing roller blades.

NCAA 2k3 offers the usual features: Playbook editing, practice modes, exhibition and legacy – which offers you control of a team from top to bottom, year after year. At the end of a season you'll get a list of players leaving your program either through graduation (which seems to happen a lot more often here than in real life, but hey, no one called it a simulation) or because they're going pro. You can save any class for import into NFL 2k3's draft day, too, which is a nice idea. Then it's on to the recruiting circuit. You've got a certain number of visits a week and a whole nation to cover. The list of prospects includes the school they'd like to attend, so you can capitalize on your reputation by snagging the youngsters that make it easy. You can also go after players not leaning your way, but it will probably take a lot more effort. Once the boys are signed on, you have to train them. The game offers a certain number of training points a day to distribute among several training camp practice drills. Want your quarterback protégé to work on his grip and patterns? Or would you prefer your boys spend as much time in the gym as possible? Spend your points how you will, and your players' ratings show the results. On to the next season.

And that's pretty much how it feels to play NCAA 2k3. Let's move on to the next season and hope they do better, because while this year's game is entertaining enough to play, it's simply not as good as it should be and not as good as the your other options.