First meeting | November 17, 1898 Nebraska, 23–10 |
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Latest meeting | November 26, 2010 Nebraska, 45–17 |
Next meeting | September 8, 2018 |
Statistics | |
Meetings total | 69 |
All-time series | Nebraska leads, 49–18–2 |
Largest victory | Nebraska, 59–0 (1981) |
Longest win streak | Nebraska, 18 (1968–85) |
Current win streak | Nebraska, 3 (2008–) |
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 rivalry's intensity was often disputed; while Colorado generally viewed Nebraska as its biggest rival, 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.)
Colorado and Nebraska met six times from 1898 to 1907, then didn't meet again until Colorado joined the Big Seven Conference in 1948. From 1948–61, Colorado went 9–4–1 against Nebraska. After their 7–0 victory in Lincoln in 1961, Colorado gained their only series lead (10–9–1).
With Bob Devaney's arrival 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, and went 21–3–1. Nebraska went 40–8–1 against Colorado from 1962–2010.