Big 12 football will be showcased on a national stage — even an international stage — when the 2025 college football season kicks off Saturday morning.
That’s because rivals Iowa State and Kansas State will face each other in the first game of the year in a Week 0 matchup that will be played in Dublin, Ireland, at the fourth Aer Lingus College Football Classic.
It’s a contest that could have major implications on the Big 12 race in the 2025 season.
How to watch No. 22 Iowa State vs. No. 17 Kansas State
When: 10 a.m. MDT, Saturday
Where: Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland
TV: ESPN
Series history: This will be the 109th meeting between the two Midwestern programs in a rivalry known as Farmageddon. Iowa State owns a 54-50-4 lead in the overall series.
Last year, the Cyclones edged the Wildcats 29-21 in both teams’ regular-season finale. The victory helped clinch a spot in the Big 12 championship game for Iowa State.
The Cyclones have won four of the past five meetings between the schools.
Previewing No. 22 Iowa State vs. No. 17 Kansas State
This will be the second meeting between two of the conference’s top returning quarterbacks, Iowa State’s Rocco Becht and Kansas State’s Avery Johnson.
Becht and the Cyclones got the best of Johnson and the Wildcats last season — neither quarterback completed more than 50% of their passes in their 2024 game (Becht was 13 of 35 and Johnson was 12 of 28), though both accounted for three touchdowns in the matchup.
Johnson threw for 220 yards and three touchdowns while also adding 64 rushing yards, outdoing the efforts of Becht, who threw for 137 yards and two touchdowns and adding 35 rushing yards and a score on the ground.
Now, the pair are expected to be standouts in a Big 12 full of returning quarterback talent — and Saturday’s game will provide an excellent stage to show off what they can do.
Both quarterbacks also have a talented running back returning to join them in the backfield.
Junior Dylan Edwards ran for 546 yards and five touchdowns last season for Kansas State and will be the feature ball carrier after backing up Doak Walker Award semifinalist DJ Giddens.
On the Iowa State side, junior Carson Hansen also returns. Last year, he led the Cyclones with 752 rushing yards and 13 scores on the ground in a breakout season.
Both defenses finished in the top half of the league last year in scoring defense — Iowa State gave up 22.9 points per game (fifth in the Big 12) and Kansas State allowed 23.4 (seventh).
The Cyclones and Wildcats are projected to be strong on defense again this season, with their linebacking groups leading the way.
Why Iowa State vs. Kansas State is crucial to the Big 12 race
Both the No. 22 Cyclones and No. 17 Wildcats are expected to heavily impact the Big 12 title chase this season. They represent two of the four conference teams ranked in the preseason Associated Press top 25 rankings, along with No. 11 Arizona State and No. 23 Texas Tech.
Iowa State is attempting to return to the league championship game one year after its first double-digit win season in school history, though the Cyclones will have to find a way to replace their top two wide receivers from a year ago. Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel are both now in the NFL, after combining for 2,377 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns last season.
Kansas State was a favorite to contend for the Big 12 title a year ago and was primed to do so heading into November, but a late-season slide — losing three of four to end the regular season — knocked the Wildcats out of contention. That spoiled a 7-1 start to the 2024 season.
ESPN’s Football Power Index gives Kansas State the best odds to win the Big 12 (23.7%) and to represent the league in the College Football Playoff (26.1%), while Iowa State faces longer odds (4.7% to win the conference, 6% to make the playoffs) in ESPN’s FPI metric.
Saturday’s game is also providing a nice trial run for the Big 12 to utilize its newest mandate — an availability report.
For conference games, league schools will now provide player availability reports in football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball.
In football, those injury and player availability reports will be released beginning three days before each conference game and run daily until game time, with the final report due 90 minutes before kickoff.
Players will be designated as available, probable, questionable, doubtful or out.
The Big 12 was the last of the Power Four conferences to implement availability reports, joining the Big Ten, which started the practice in 2023, the SEC (2024) and the ACC (in July).