Collegiate American Football returns to Dublin for a fourth consecutive year this Saturday, where the rival Kansas State University Wildcats and Iowa State University Cyclones will suit up to play their season opener at Aviva Stadium as part of this year’s Aer Lingus College Football Classic. It has also been announced that the game will be followed by Texas Christian University (TCU) versus the University of North Carolina (UNC) on August 29th 2026 as well as The University of Pittsburgh against The University of Wisconsin on August 28th 2027.
The National Collegiate Athletic Administration (NCAA) football program sees many of the best players of America’s beloved sport from universities across the country compete on the gridiron every autumn. This demonstrates a new attempt for the NCAA to gain fans in Europe. Last year saw Georgia Tech defeat Florida State University in a close game that gained over 5 million viewers, according to the Aer Lingus Classic website. Two years ago, the “Fighting Irish” of Notre Dame University prevailed over The United States Naval Academy, a fixture played in Dublin many times in years past.
This year, the aforementioned Kansas State and Iowa State matchup features two of this year’s major contenders for the Big 12 title, the premier athletic conference of the Midwestern United States, and representing one of the “Power 4” conferences. They both begin the year “ranked”, meaning they are both among the top 25 best teams in the country to start the season; a win also means pushing the other team out of the rankings. The match has been lovingly dubbed “Farmageddon” by the fanbases of the teams, which comprise the rural farming communities of Kansas and Iowa, respectively.
Unlike the National Football League (NFL), which now holds matches in a plethora of European cities and beyond, the College Football Classic remains the only annual college football fixture played outside the United States, making it one of the most unique yearly events in all of sports. While this is exciting for fans who can make the journey to the Aviva, it raises questions about the purpose of college football in Ireland. Many of the most passionate fans of these teams – the students – cannot afford to travel to Ireland, stunting the sport’s ability to cater to fans abroad. In addition, the fact that this year’s game is such a high profile rivalry matchup raises controversy; it prevents some fans back home from attending the biggest match of their team’s season in person. The debate on this topic will only grow, as the College Football Classic is set to be played in each of the next three seasons.
While possibly controversial for fans, this setup is of great advantage to Iowa State; the Cyclones, who under normal circumstances were slated to play this year’s fixture in Kansas State’s home turf due to hosting the Wildcats last season, will now play in a less intimidating environment with a larger presence of Cyclone fans. The Cyclones, led by long-time head coach Matt Campbell, seek to progress further than their Big 12 Championship loss last season and win this year’s iteration, allowing them to compete with colleges from around the country for the National Championship in a potential playoff appearance.
Kansas State, on the other hand, is looking to bounce back from a disappointing season in which they started with a 7-1 win-loss record and proceeded to lose three of their remaining four regular-season games. Starting a season against a long-time rival will no doubt build hype for a more successful season this year.
Though questions on the target audience or true purpose of playing an American college football match in Ireland remain, there is no doubt that an exciting and unique experience with major ramifications for each team awaits those who attend the match on Saturday.
