Big Ten football is heading overseas.
Northwestern and Nebraska are bringing American (midwestern, to be more specific) football to the United Kingdom next year as the teams announced plans to open the 2022 season in Dublin, Ireland on Aug. 27, 2022.
The game will be held at Ireland's Aviva Stadium – home to both the Irish rugby and soccer national teams – and the teams will play for the Keough-Naughton trophy that bears the names of two prominent Irish American businessmen, Don Keough and Martin Naughton.
"The past year has been a very difficult one for us all in Ireland and in the United States. With our vaccination rollout advancing at pace, we are beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel, and we can begin to look forward with optimism to welcoming visitors safely back to our shores," Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Micheál Martin said in a release. "When we do, we will have a very special welcome ready for the teams and their supporters when they visit us for the Aer Lingus College Football Classic." Learn more in Martin's welcome message.
Northwestern was scheduled to open this coming season in Dublin with a game against Illinois, however, that game was moved to Champaign due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman says the Illini will pursue a future game in Ireland.
