Curse of the Irish? How Ireland college football game losers have fared after defeat
NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...
The 2026 college football season begins in earnest with a Week 0 meeting between North Carolina and TCU in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic. It is the latest in a series that, since its inception in 2016, has been played at Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
While any coach, Bill Belichick and Sonny Dykes included, will state the importance of starting a season 1-0, there are some historical trends that suggest this matchup — the 12th major college football game in history played in Ireland — takes on even greater importance for the Tar Heels and Horned Frogs.
In recent years especially, the game has been a reliable predictor of how a team's season will go, particularly for the losing team.
Will the same be true for one of North Carolina or TCU? It will take a whole season — or at least part of it — to find out. Until then, here's a look at the history of college football games in Ireland, and how the losers of those games have fared afterward:
College football Ireland game history, results
The first major college football game to be played in Ireland was in 1988, when Boston College secured a 38-24 win over Army.
The game, then called the Emerald Isle Classic, has since gone on to include 10 more games, with names evolving to the Wild Geese Classic, Shamrock Classic, Croke Park Classic and, now, the Aer Lingus College Football Classic. Here's a look at all the results of college football games played in Ireland, beginning in 1988 all the way through Iowa State–Kansas State in 2025:
- 1988: Boston College 38, Army 24*
- 1989: No. 24 Pittsburgh 46, Rutgers 29*
- 1991: Holy Cross 24, Fordham 19*
- 1996: No. 21 Notre Dame 54, Navy 27*
- 2012: No. 24 Notre Dame 50, Navy 10
- 2014: Penn State 26, Central Florida 24
- 2016:Georgia Tech 17, Boston College 14
- 2022: Northwestern 31, Nebraska 28
- 2023: No. 13 Notre Dame 42, Navy 3
- 2024: Georgia Tech 24, No. 10 Florida State 21
- 2025: No. 22 Iowa State 24, No. 17 Kansas State 21
* Game was played in November or December of that season
How have losing teams fared after losing college football Ireland game?
- 1988 Army: 9-3 (1-1 after loss)
- 1989 Rutgers: 2-7-2 (game ended season)
- 1991 Fordham: 2-8 (0-1 after loss)
- 1996 Navy: 9-3 (4-1 after loss)
- 2012 Navy: 8-5 (8-4 after loss)
- 2014 Central Florida: 9-4 (9-3 after loss)
- 2016 Boston College: 7-6 (7-5 after loss)
- 2022 Nebraska: 4-8 (4-7 after loss)
- 2023 Navy: 5-7 (5-6 after loss)
- 2024 Florida State: 2-10 (2-9 after loss)
- 2025 Kansas State: 6-6 (6-5 after loss)
Teams that have lost in Ireland have gone on to combine for a 46-42 record, with five of 10 teams (not including Rutgers in 1989) having losing records. A sixth team, Kansas State in 2025, went 6-6 and did not participate in a bowl.
While there was a four-game stretch from 1996 through 2016 where losing teams combined for a 28-13 post-loss record, recent history has been far less kind to losers of the Aer Lingus Classic. After a six-year hiatus that saw the series resume in 2022, three teams — Nebraska in 2022, Navy in 2023 and Florida State in 2024 — went on to losing records.
Those teams combined to go 17-33 following their respective losses, with only Kansas State enjoying a winning post-loss record at 6-5 as part of that .500 season.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Curse of the Irish? How Ireland college football game losers have fared after defeat
More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos