Nebraska–Wisconsin football rivalry
| First meeting | November 2, 1901 Wisconsin, 18–0 |
|---|---|
| Latest meeting | October 29, 2016 #11 Wisconsin 23, #7 Nebraska 17OT |
| Next meeting | October 7, 2017 |
| Trophy | Freedom Trophy |
| Statistics | |
| Meetings total | 11 |
| All-time series | Wisconsin leads, 7–4 (.636) |
| Current win streak | Wisconsin, 4 |
The Nebraska–Wisconsin football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers and University of Wisconsin Badgers. The winner of the game receives the Freedom Trophy. Wisconsin leads the series 7–4.
The inaugural matchup between the Cornhuskers and Badgers was in 1901 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Badgers won 18–0. After the 1901 game the two football teams would not meet again for 64 years. The dominant Cornhuskers won three games in a row against the Badgers in 1965, 1966 and 1973.
Barry Alvarez, the future Wisconsin head coach and athletic director, played linebacker for Nebraska from 1966–68 and during the 1966 meeting between the Cornhuskers and Badgers he intercepted a pass and returned it 25 yards. Alvarez would go on to become head coach for the Badgers in 1990, where he implemented a Nebraska-style offense which relied heavily on run-style offense centered on a powerful offensive line controlling the line of scrimmage. Alvarez stated, "a lot of my philosophy was based upon the foundation I had starting at Nebraska."
The Badgers would not see their next victory until 1974, 73 years after their first win. It wasn't until the Nebraska Cornhuskers left the Big 12 Conference and joined the Big Ten Conference in 2011 that the two programs would meet again across division lines. The Cornhuskers were in the Legends division and the Badgers the Leaders division. The two programs traded home wins with Wisconsin resoundingly defeating the Cornhuskers in their inaugural Big Ten game at Camp Randall in 2011 48-17. The Cornhuskers had the second-largest comeback in program history to defeat the Badgers at Memorial Stadium in the 2012 regular season 30-27. The two met again just over two months later in the 2012 Big Ten Football Championship Game where the unranked Badgers defeated the heavily favored #14 Cornhuskers at Lucas Oil Stadium 70–31.
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