College football is finally, really, truly back.
It may just be week 0, but we had our first football game of the 2025 season unfold over in Dublin, Ireland, as we have seen for the past few years— but this time, wegot a legitimate top-25 matchup. Sometimes, these Dublin games have been snoozers, like when Notre Dame rolled over Navy a few years back, but there's been excitement too, such as the thrilling win for Georgia Tech over Florida State last year.
This one was another nail-biter, as the no. 22 Iowa State Cyclones took down the no. 17 Kansas State Wildcats in what some were calling a preview of the Big 12 championship. The Cyclones kneeled the ball at the doorstep of the end zone to clinch this one— a three-point victory that was in doubt until about two minutes before that point.
Even though this isn't an SEC game, though, there are still implications for Texas A&M after this matchup. Here's how it could affect things for the Aggies going forward.
How Iowa State's win over Kansas State affects Texas A&M football
These two teams came into the year bracketing the Aggies in the rankings. Texas A&M is 19th, and as I mentioned before, KSU is 17th and ISU is 22nd.
Now, there will be no new AP Poll released before week 1 is played— they're rolling with the preseason rankings until a week from Tuesday (to allow for the Monday night game to take place). But, assuming Texas A&M takes care of business against UTSA, which to some very silly people apparently is not exactly a given, the Aggies could move up at least one spot in the poll.
The complicating factor here is that Iowa State themselves, only three spots below the Aggies, could leapfrog them and make it a wash either way. Given that it wasn't an extremely convincing win, however, and KSU was ranked only slightly ahead of them, I'm not sure the poll will fall that way.
There could still yet be more to come when week 1 gets underway in earnest. Other teams ranked right around the Aggies could stumble (though most right in their vicinity have cupcake games, so it's not all that likely). But for now, this could result in the Aggies leaping up at least one spot in the poll.