CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) – College football has began the tradition of kicking off each season overseas.

In 2024, Georgia Tech and Florida opened the year with a week zero game in Dublin, Ireland. This year, Kansas State and Iowa State are matching up in the same event – the Aer Lingus College Football Classic – on Aug. 23.

Illinois was scheduled to take on Nebraska in Ireland to start the 2021 season. However, the COVID-19 pandemic caused the game to be moved to Champaign. The Illini never wound up rescheduling another international contest.

Would Bielema be interested in an opportunity to play outside the U.S. in the future?

“We really haven’t been approached,” he said.

He did point out the fact that Illinois football is in a much different place, as a program, than it was when the meeting with the Huskers was scheduled for 2021.

“That was at a different point,” Bielema said. “That was when Illinois was dealing with a third full stadium. They were kind of a perfect market, when you have a big stadium that doesn’t sell out, to make more money going overseas.”

So, the longtime college football head coach didn’t rule out the possibility of going global at some point – but seemed to indicate it would require replacing game already slotted to be played away from Champaign.

“The last thing I’d do right now is take a home game out of [Memorial] Stadium,” he said. “That’d be the last thing I’d want to do.”

Illinois sold out season tickets this fall for the first time in 20 years. Student season tickets are also sold out.

The Illini sold out two games in 2024, marking the first time Memorial Stadium in Champaign saw multiple sellout crowds since 2009.