(BCSNN) — The 2025 college football season kicks off Saturday with a marquee Big 12 showdown as No. 17 Kansas State faces No. 22 Iowa State in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic at Aviva Stadium. The Week Zero clash marks the first time two ranked teams have met in the Dublin-based event and could have early implications for the Big 12 title race and College Football Playoff positioning.
Kansas State enters the season with high expectations after a 9–4 campaign in 2024 and returns junior quarterback Avery Johnson, whose dual-threat ability has made him one of the most dynamic playmakers in the conference. Johnson threw for 2,712 yards and 25 touchdowns last season while rushing for 605 yards and seven scores. His growth as a passer and command of the offense have drawn praise from head coach Chris Klieman, who called him “the heartbeat of our team.”
Across the field, Iowa State counters with third-year starter Rocco Becht, who led the Cyclones to an 11–3 record and a Pop-Tarts Bowl victory over Miami last season. Becht passed for 3,505 yards and 25 touchdowns and added eight rushing scores, earning a spot on the Maxwell Award watch list. Head coach Matt Campbell said Becht’s poise and leadership have been “instrumental” in the program’s resurgence, which includes back-to-back Big 12 title game appearances.
The quarterback duel between Johnson and Becht is expected to be one of the most compelling matchups of the weekend. Both signal-callers are on preseason All-Big 12 lists and have drawn national attention as potential Heisman dark horses. Johnson’s mobility and improvisation contrast with Becht’s precision and pocket awareness, setting the stage for a stylistic clash in front of a sold-out crowd in Dublin.
Kansas State will lean on returning weapons like running back Dylan Edwards, who rushed for 196 yards in the Rate Bowl win over Rutgers, and wideout Jayce Brown, who posted 823 receiving yards and five touchdowns last season. Iowa State counters with Carson Hansen, a bruising back who tallied 752 yards and 13 scores in 2024, and a revamped receiving corps led by East Carolina transfer Chase Sowell and UCF’s Xavier Townsend.
Defensively, both teams return key contributors. Kansas State linebacker Austin Romaine and safety VJ Payne anchor a unit that ranked top 40 nationally in yards per play. Iowa State boasts All-Big 12 defensive tackle Domonique Orange and a veteran secondary led by Jeremiah Cooper and Jontez Williams, who combined for seven interceptions last season.
With the Big 12 widely considered the most unpredictable conference in the country, Saturday’s outcome could shape the early playoff narrative. The winner will likely surge in the rankings and gain a crucial head-to-head tiebreaker in a league that saw four teams finish with identical conference records last season. “This game could define the race before it even begins,” said ESPN analyst Dusty Dvoracek, who will call the game on ESPN.
Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. CT (5 p.m. local time) at Aviva Stadium, with coverage on ESPN. For Kansas State and Iowa State, the stakes are clear: win in Dublin, and the road to Arlington—and perhaps the College Football Playoff—gets a little smoother.
