Overview

• No. 20 Kansas State and No. 21 Iowa State kick off the 2025 season in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic on Aug. 30 at Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
• The Week 0 Big 12 matchup is framed as an early marker for the conference race and College Football Playoff picture, though both coaches caution it will not define the season.
• BetMGM listed Kansas State at -160 on the moneyline and favored by 3 points with a total of 50.5 as of Aug. 21.
• Iowa State’s Rocco Becht enters as the league’s most experienced starter, while Kansas State’s Avery Johnson headlines an offense boosted by a productive run game led by Dylan Edwards.
• The rivalry’s recent arc favors Iowa State under Matt Campbell (5–2 in the last seven) after decades of Kansas State control, and this will be the series’ first August meeting in 109 years.