Video: ASU Pranks Players with Fake College Football 25 Game Prize at Training Camp

Anticipation for the new EA Sports College Football 25 is so high that it creates an ideal pranking environment.

Just ask Arizona State head football coach Kenny Dillingham.

Dillingham and the Arizona State coaching staff pranked some of their players by saying they had four special editions of the game to hand out to the winners of a plank competition. The only problem, at least from the players' perspective, is it turned out they weren't the actual game.

After the winners emerged from the competition, they were asked to open the boxes and show the camera what was inside. Hilarity ensued as the team discovered the prank that even featured a Goofy Movie DVD being inside one of the game boxes:

If you had any doubt regarding how much people want to get their hands on this new game, just look at the effort put forth by the players during the competition. They were all focused on one thing in the Arizona heat, and that was the chance at early access to one of the most anticipated sports games in years.

There's a reason there is so much anticipation.

After all, there hasn't been a new version of the game since NCAA Football 14. What's more, this year's version will feature actual players with their names thanks to the implementation of name, image and likeness opportunities that were not available for college athletes the last time EA Sports released the game.

Players such as the ones at Arizona State will have the opportunity to control virtual versions of themselves as they attempt to conquer dynasty mode, road to glory and more.

And if the trailer is any indication, the game will capture the pageantry and tradition that makes college football so special all while providing crystal clear graphics and gameplay:

Unfortunately for the Sun Devils players, they will have to wait until July 19 when the new game is released worldwide on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

But when it is released, they will have the opportunity to see how they match up in their first year of a new conference before the actual season starts. Arizona State will compete in the Big 12 in 2024 and beyond following the dissolution of the Pac-12, and it will be joined by Arizona, Colorado and Utah.

While Oklahoma and Texas will no longer be in the league thanks to their move to the SEC, it will provide a test for the Sun Devils both on the actual field and in the virtual gridiron.