On the court, the action remains traditionally solid, if mostly borrowed from the NBA 2K7 offering. NCAA teams are rarely peppered with superstar-type dominators, so the emphasis is on the fundamentals of passing, hitting open shots, and playing solid defense as opposed to throwing down loads of boom-tastic dunks. As before, we had a little trouble mastering the pull-and-release shooting mechanic of the Shot Stick, but it really is the key to success, especially down low in the paint.

The legacy mode is deeper than ever (too much for some?), what with all sorts of recruiting, practice, and coaching options to take care of before you ever hit the hardwood. As you’ve come to expect, 2K Sports’ sublime online options return, featuring leagues, tournaments, stat tracking, and professional-grade websites to trash talk and post naughty pictures (not that we condone that sort of behavior).

The PS3 version isn’t quite as smooth as its Xbox 360 cousin, as the frame rate can be a slightly choppy (especially online); not enough to ruin our good time, but noticeable nonetheless. Our favorite next-gen feature, hands down, is the Create-a-Chant. It’s surprisingly easy to use, with all sorts of letters, drums, and words you can combine to make the strangest cheers imaginable. There’s something ludicrously fun about having your home crowd scream “Brown buckets catch stink!” after you nail a three-pointer. We don’t know what that really means, and it’s probably in very poor taste, but it’s funny as hell.