Kansas State head football coach Chris Klieman had his doubts when athletic director Gene Taylor presented him with an opportunity to begin the 2025 season abroad.

Of course, head coaches are creatures of habit, and beginning the season a week earlier in Dublin, Ireland is about the biggest shift from habit that a program can experience. Between the logistics of traveling, playing four straight weeks, and losing a conference game, Klieman was hesitant to approve such a shift.

Then, he called coaches who had participated in an overseas game and his tune changed. He wanted K-State to begin their season 4,000 miles away from Manhattan.

"I knew it would be a great opportunity, but I'm like, 'Okay, how does it affect a lot of things,'" said Klieman. "I reached out to some coaches that I know in the profession really well that had been in that game and the common theme was, 'if we could do it every year, we would do it every year.'"

By all accounts, that sealed the deal for K-State. Instead of playing Iowa State at Bill Snyder Family Stadium in 2025, both teams would pack their bags, stamp their passports, and head to Dublin, Ireland to take place in the Aer Lingus Classic on August 23, 2025.

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While shifting the schedule is a significant move for any program, the opportunity to participate on a national stage and offer the athletes a once-in-a-lifetime experience was enough for Taylor and Klieman.

This season's Air Lingus Classic between Florida State and Georgia Tech will be one of the few games played during college football's week 0 and feature ESPN's College Gameday Crew. According to Aer Lingus Classic's John Anthony, the game is sold out.

According to Klieman, this opportunity to experience the game in a different environment "trumped" the concern of losing a home game against a rival. "It was just an opportunity for these guys to experience something that not a lot of college kids are going to be able to do, especially college football players," Klieman said.

Why K-State, though? And why now?

While multiple things go into choosing a team for a neutral site game, it appears that K-State's fanbase and their ability to travel, regardless of the location, was a major factor in Aer Lingus's decision to bring K-State over.

"It is a combination of football quality and fan quantity," Anthony said. "You're playing really high-quality football, we noticed that that's what we want. And your fans are so loyal and so rabid, and so strong that they follow everywhere you go. That's the formula we're looking for."

For fans, the experience appears to be equally as strong. Irish fans have begun to embrace American football, and the game has seen unprecedented success for international games in college football.

And while it might be a challenging trip for some, everyone agrees: the experience in Ireland is just different.

"Watching the game now, that stadium looks gorgeous. Operationally, it's going to be extremely well-run," Taylor said. "Just really excited about our fans and our kids to be able to experience because they really, really love Americans. And they'll love us."