Colorado–Nebraska football rivalry

Colorado–Nebraska football rivalry
First Meeting	November 17, 1898
Last Meeting	November 26, 2010
Next Meeting	September 8, 2018
Meetings	69
Series	Nebraska leads, 49–18–2

The Colorado–Nebraska football rivalry was an American college football rivalry between the Colorado Buffaloes and Nebraska Cornhuskers. They first played in 1898, but the rivalry intensified in the 1980s as Colorado improved under head coach Bill McCartney. It was somewhat consolidated with the formation of the Big 12 Conference in 1996, which placed the two universities in the same six-team division and ended Nebraska's annual game with Oklahoma.

The intensity of this rivalry was often disputed; while Colorado generally viewed Nebraska as its biggest rival, the feeling was not mutual as Nebraska still generally viewed Oklahoma as their historically significant rival, even though they now played the Sooners every other regular season. After the formation of the Big 12, the game was traditionally played on the Friday afternoon following Thanksgiving, nationally televised on ABC. In the Big 8, this time slot was often used for the Nebraska–Oklahoma game. (Oklahoma now plays in-state rival Oklahoma State at the end of the regular season in the Bedlam Series.)

Series history

Colorado and Nebraska met six times from 1898 to 1907, then took a 40-year hiatus until Colorado joined the Big Seven Conference in 1948. From 1948 to 1961, Colorado went 9–4–1 against Nebraska. After their 7–0 victory in Lincoln in 1961, Colorado gained their only lead in the series.

With the arrival of Bob Devaney in 1962, Nebraska emerged from nearly two decades of mediocrity (and seven straight losing seasons) and returned as a national power in the mid-1960s, followed by national titles in 1970 and 1971. He won his first 5 against Colorado and was 10–1; successor Tom Osborne won his first 13, with a final record of 21–3–1. Since Devaney took over in 1962, Nebraska has gone 40–8–1 against Colorado.

When Bill McCartney was hired by Colorado in 1982, he almost immediately designated Nebraska as Colorado's primary rival, in an attempt to motivate his team. Nebraska at that time was a perennial powerhouse program and had defeated Colorado 14 straight times, and McCartney wanted to use the eventual defeat of Nebraska as a measure of Colorado's success. Four years later, Colorado got their first win over the Cornhuskers since 1967, upsetting #3 Nebraska 20–10. It was the first win over Nebraska at Folsom Field in Boulder since 1960.

Colorado then began to repeatedly threaten Nebraska in the late 1980s, following their 1986 upset win. In 1989, #3 Nebraska met #2 Colorado at Folsom Field tied for the lead in the Big 8. Colorado won 27–21 on their way to winning their first Big 8 Championship since 1976. #9 Colorado went to Memorial Stadium in Lincoln to play #3 Nebraska for the Big 8 title yet again in 1990. The Buffaloes won 27–12 en route to their first national title. McCartney went 3–9–1 against Nebraska. Successor Rick Neuheisel was 0–4, while Gary Barnett was 3–4.

The 19–19 tie in 1991 was the last recorded by Nebraska. To date, they have played one game decided in overtime, a 33–30 Nebraska victory in 1999.

Historically, the series was mostly one-sided, with Nebraska winning nearly three out of every four matchups. However, the last two decades had been very competitive with many matchups decided by a touchdown or less. From 1988 to 1996, both teams were ranked going into the matchup, and in 5 of those meetings both teams were in the top 10. In 1989 and 1994, Colorado and Nebraska went into the game ranked #2 and #3 respectively, and split those games. Between 1996 and 2000, Nebraska won all five meetings by 15 points combined.

More fire fueled the rivalry in 2001 when #2 Nebraska went into Boulder undefeated. #14 Colorado had one conference loss, making this the Big 12 North championship. Colorado shocked the nation with a 62–36 drubbing of Nebraska and won the Big 12 Championship against Texas the following week. Nebraska eventually went to the BCS title game despite the loss, but Colorado was only a point behind Nebraska in the BCS poll.

The decade started with Colorado winning 3 of 4, and ended with Nebraska taking 5 of 6. Starting with CU's streak-breaking victory in 1986 through 2010, Colorado went 7–17–1 against Nebraska.

The series was disrupted by the 2010–13 NCAA conference realignment, when both teams left the Big 12 before the 2011 season. Colorado joined the Pacific-12 Conference and Nebraska went to the Big Ten Conference. Each team now plays border rivals in the opposite direction. Nebraska faces Iowa on the Friday following Thanksgiving, also on ABC; Colorado has revived a rivalry with Utah the same day.

It was announced on February 7, 2013 that Colorado and Nebraska agreed to renew the rivalry. Colorado will travel in 2018 to Lincoln, and then return to Boulder in 2019. After a 3-year break, Nebraska will go to Colorado in 2023 and then host the Buffaloes again in 2024 to finish the series.

Game results

Colorado victories are shaded ██ black. Nebraska victories are shaded ██ scarlet. Ties are white.

Date	Site	Winning team		Losing team		Series
November 17, 1898	Boulder	Nebraska	23	Colorado	10	Nebraska 1–0
October 4, 1902	Boulder	Nebraska	10	Colorado	0	Nebraska 2–0
October 24, 1903	Lincoln	Nebraska	31	Colorado	0	Nebraska 3–0
October 8, 1904	Boulder	Colorado	6	Nebraska	0	Nebraska 3–1
November 11, 1905	Lincoln	Nebraska	18	Colorado	0	Nebraska 4–1
October 26, 1907	Lincoln	Nebraska	22	Colorado	8	Nebraska 5–1
October 9, 1948	Boulder	Colorado	16	Nebraska	9	Nebraska 5–2
November 19, 1949	Lincoln	Nebraska	25	Colorado	14	Nebraska 6–2
October 14, 1950	Boulder	Colorado	28	Nebraska	19	Nebraska 6–3
November 17, 1951	Lincoln	Colorado	36	Nebraska	14	Nebraska 6–4
October 25, 1952	Boulder	Colorado	16	Nebraska	16	Nebraska 6–4–1
November 14, 1953	Lincoln	Colorado	14	Nebraska	10	Nebraska 6–5–1
October 23, 1954	Boulder	Nebraska	20	#11 Colorado	6	Nebraska 7–5–1
November 12, 1955	Lincoln	Nebraska	37	Colorado	20	Nebraska 8–5–1
October 27, 1956	Boulder	Colorado	16	Nebraska	0	Nebraska 8–6–1
November 16, 1957	Lincoln	Colorado	27	Nebraska	0	Nebraska 8–7–1
October 25, 1958	Boulder	#12 Colorado	27	Nebraska	16	Tie 8–8–1
November 14, 1959	Lincoln	Nebraska	14	Colorado	12	Nebraska 9–8–1
October 22, 1960	Boulder	Colorado	19	Nebraska	6	Tie 9–9–1
November 18, 1961	Lincoln	#8 Colorado	7	Nebraska	0	Colorado 10–9–1
October 27, 1962	Boulder	Nebraska	31	Colorado	6	Tie 10–10–1
October 26, 1963	Lincoln	Nebraska	41	Colorado	6	Nebraska 11–10–1
October 24, 1964	Boulder	#5 Nebraska	21	Colorado	3	Nebraska 12–10–1
October 23, 1965	Lincoln	#3 Nebraska	38	Colorado	13	Nebraska 13–10–1
October 22, 1966	Boulder	#7 Nebraska	21	Colorado	19	Nebraska 14–10–1
October 21, 1967	Lincoln	#4 Colorado	21	Nebraska	16	Nebraska 14–11–1
November 16, 1968	Boulder	Nebraska	22	Colorado	6	Nebraska 15–11–1
November 1, 1969	Lincoln	Nebraska	20	#18 Colorado	7	Nebraska 16–11–1
October 31, 1970	Boulder	#4 Nebraska	29	Colorado	13	Nebraska 17–11–1
October 30, 1971	Lincoln	#1 Nebraska	31	#9 Colorado	7	Nebraska 18–11–1
November 4, 1972	Boulder	#3 Nebraska	33	#15 Colorado	10	Nebraska 19–11–1
October 3, 1973	Lincoln	#13 Nebraska	28	#17 Colorado	16	Nebraska 20–11–1
November 2, 1974	Boulder	#9 Nebraska	31	Colorado	15	Nebraska 21–11–1
October 25, 1975	Lincoln	#4 Nebraska	63	#10 Colorado	21	Nebraska 22–11–1
October 9, 1976	Boulder	#6 Nebraska	24	Colorado	12	Nebraska 23–11–1
October 22, 1977	Lincoln	#18 Nebraska	33	#7 Colorado	15	Nebraska 24–11–1
October 21, 1978	Boulder	#5 Nebraska	52	Colorado	14	Nebraska 25–11–1
October 27, 1979	Lincoln	#2 Nebraska	38	Colorado	10	Nebraska 26–11–1
October 25, 1980	Boulder	#9 Nebraska	45	Colorado	7	Nebraska 27–11–1
October 10, 1981	Lincoln	Nebraska	59	Colorado	0	Nebraska 28–11–1
October 9, 1982	Boulder	#7 Nebraska	40	Colorado	14	Nebraska 29–11–1
October 22, 1983	Lincoln	#1 Nebraska	69	Colorado	19	Nebraska 30–11–1
October 20, 1984	Boulder	#5 Nebraska	24	Colorado	7	Nebraska 31–11–1
October 26, 1985	Lincoln	#5 Nebraska	17	Colorado	7	Nebraska 32–11–1
October 25, 1986	Boulder	Colorado	20	#3 Nebraska	10	Nebraska 32–12–1
November 28, 1987	Boulder	#5 Nebraska	24	Colorado	7	Nebraska 33–12–1
November 12, 1988	Lincoln	#7 Nebraska	7	#19 Colorado	0	Nebraska 34–12–1
November 4, 1989	Boulder	#2 Colorado	27	#3 Nebraska	21	Nebraska 34–13–1
November 3, 1990	Lincoln	#9 Colorado	27	#3 Nebraska	12	Nebraska 34–14–1
November 2, 1991	Boulder	#15 Colorado	19	#9 Nebraska	19	Nebraska 34–14–2
October 31, 1992	Lincoln	#8 Nebraska	52	#8 Colorado	7	Nebraska 35–14–2
October 30, 1993	Boulder	#6 Nebraska	21	#20 Colorado	17	Nebraska 36–14–2
October 29, 1994	Lincoln	#3 Nebraska	24	#2 Colorado	7	Nebraska 37–14–2
October 28, 1995	Boulder	#2 Nebraska	44	#7 Colorado	21	Nebraska 38–14–2
November 29, 1996	Lincoln	#4 Nebraska	17	#5 Colorado	12	Nebraska 39–14–2
November 28, 1997	Boulder	#2 Nebraska	27	Colorado	24	Nebraska 40–14–2
November 27, 1998	Lincoln	#14 Nebraska	16	Colorado	14	Nebraska 41–14–2
November 26, 1999	Boulder	#3 Nebraska	33	Colorado	30	Nebraska 42–14–2
November 24, 2000	Lincoln	#10 Nebraska	34	Colorado	32	Nebraska 43–14–2
November 23, 2001	Boulder	#14 Colorado	62	#2 Nebraska	36	Nebraska 43–15–2
November 29, 2002	Lincoln	#13 Colorado	28	Nebraska	13	Nebraska 43–16–2
November 28, 2003	Boulder	#25 Nebraska	31	Colorado	22	Nebraska 44–16–2
November 26, 2004	Lincoln	Colorado	26	Nebraska	20	Nebraska 44–17–2
November 25, 2005	Boulder	Nebraska	30	Colorado	3	Nebraska 45–17–2
November 24, 2006	Lincoln	#23 Nebraska	37	Colorado	14	Nebraska 46–17–2
November 23, 2007	Boulder	Colorado	65	Nebraska	51	Nebraska 46–18–2
November 28, 2008	Lincoln	Nebraska	40	Colorado	31	Nebraska 47–18–2
November 27, 2009	Boulder	Nebraska	28	Colorado	20	Nebraska 48–18–2
November 26, 2010	Lincoln	#16 Nebraska	45	Colorado	17	Nebraska 49–18–2
September 8, 2018	Lincoln
September 7, 2019	Boulder
September 9, 2023	Boulder
September 7, 2024	Lincoln