>

Colorado Buffaloes Colorado Buffaloes football The Colorado Buffaloes football program represents the University of Colorado at Boulder in college football at the NCAA Division I FBS level. The team is currently a member of the Pacific-12 Conference, having previously been a charter member of the Big 12 Conference. Before joining the Big 12,...  - Nebraska Cornhuskers Nebraska Cornhuskers football The Nebraska Cornhuskers represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in college football. The program has established itself as a traditional powerhouse, and has the fourth-most all-time victories of any NCAA Division I-A team. Nebraska is one of only six football programs in NCAA Division I-A...
History
First Meeting	November 17, 1898
Last Meeting	November 26, 2010
Next Meeting	None Scheduled
Number of Meetings	69
All-Time Series	Nebraska: 49–18–2
Largest victory	Nebraska: 59 (59-0 in 1981)
Current Streak	Nebraska: Won 3
Longest Colorado Win Streak	3 (1956–1958)
Longest Nebraska Win Streak	18 (1968–1985)
At Boulder	Nebraska leads 23-10-2
At Lincoln	Nebraska leads 26-8-0

The Colorado–Nebraska football rivalry was an American college football

College football

College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 rivalry played by the Colorado Buffaloes football

Colorado Buffaloes football

The Colorado Buffaloes football program represents the University of Colorado at Boulder in college football at the NCAA Division I FBS level. The team is currently a member of the Pacific-12 Conference, having previously been a charter member of the Big 12 Conference. Before joining the Big 12,...

 team of the University of Colorado

University of Colorado

The University of Colorado system is a system of public universities in Colorado consisting of three universities in four campuses: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, and University of Colorado Denver in downtown Denver and at the Anschutz Medical Campus in...

 and the Nebraska Cornhuskers football

Nebraska Cornhuskers football

The Nebraska Cornhuskers represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in college football. The program has established itself as a traditional powerhouse, and has the fourth-most all-time victories of any NCAA Division I-A team. Nebraska is one of only six football programs in NCAA Division I-A...

 team of the University of Nebraska. The two teams first played in 1898, but the rivalry intensified during the 1980s, and was somewhat consolidated with the formation of the Big 12 Conference

Big 12 Conference

The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference of ten schools located in the Central United States, with its headquarters located in Las Colinas, a community in the Dallas, Texas suburb of Irving...

, a development that placed the two universities in the same division of the Big 12 and ended Nebraska's annual matchup with Oklahoma

Oklahoma Sooners football

The Oklahoma Sooners football program is a college football team that represents the University of Oklahoma . The team is currently a member of the Big 12 Conference, which is a Division I Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association...

. The intensity of this rivalry was often disputed; while Colorado generally viewed Nebraska as its biggest rival, the feeling was not necessarily mutual as Nebraskans still generally viewed Oklahoma as its historically significant rivals even though they no longer played the Sooners every season. The game was traditionally played on the Friday afternoon following Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving (United States)

Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day, is a holiday celebrated in the United States on the fourth Thursday in November. It has officially been an annual tradition since 1863, when, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of thanksgiving to be celebrated on Thursday,...

, with the game being nationally televised on ABC

College Football on ABC

ESPN College Football on ABC presented by Kay Jewelers is a presentation of the American Broadcasting Company's regular season American college football television package...

.

Series history

When Bill McCartney

Bill McCartney

William Paul McCartney is a former American football player and coach and the founder of the Promise Keepers men's ministry. He was the head coach at the University of Colorado from 1982 to 1994, where he compiled a record of 93–55–5 and won three consecutive Big Eight Conference...

 was hired by Colorado

Colorado Buffaloes football

The Colorado Buffaloes football program represents the University of Colorado at Boulder in college football at the NCAA Division I FBS level. The team is currently a member of the Pacific-12 Conference, having previously been a charter member of the Big 12 Conference. Before joining the Big 12,...

 in 1982, he almost immediately designated Nebraska

Nebraska Cornhuskers football

The Nebraska Cornhuskers represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in college football. The program has established itself as a traditional powerhouse, and has the fourth-most all-time victories of any NCAA Division I-A team. Nebraska is one of only six football programs in NCAA Division I-A...

 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 fourteen times in a row, and McCartney wanted to use the eventual defeat of Nebraska as a measure of Colorado's success. Four years later, in 1986, Colorado got their first win since McCartney had arrived., a stunning 20-10 upset of #3 Nebraska.

Colorado began to repeatedly threaten Nebraska in the late 1980s, following their 1986 upset win, and then surpassed the Huskers for the Big 8

Big Eight Conference

The Big Eight Conference, a former NCAA-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football, was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association by its charter member schools: the University of Kansas, University of Missouri, University...

 Championship in 1989. Colorado traveled to Nebraska's Memorial Stadium

Memorial Stadium, Lincoln

Memorial Stadium is located on the campus of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in Lincoln, Nebraska, United States. It is the home of the Nebraska Cornhuskers football team....

 to again play for the Big 8 Championship in 1990, and the Buffaloes won 27–12 en route to their first National Championship

NCAA Division I FBS National Football Championship

A college football national championship in the highest level of collegiate play in the United States, currently the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision , is a designation awarded annually by various third-party organizations to their selection of the best...

.

The 19-19 tie in the 1991 matchup was the last tie recorded in the Big 8 conference and the last by both schools. To date they have played one contest decided in overtime, a 33-30 Nebraska victory in 1999.

Historically the series was mostly one-sided, with the Huskers having won 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. Between 1996 and 2000, Nebraska won all five meetings by just a combined 15 points.

The series was effectively disrupted by the 2010–11 NCAA conference realignment, when both teams left the Big 12. Colorado joined the Pac-12 Conference and Nebraska joined the Big Ten Conference

Big Ten Conference

The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...

. Nebraska will instead face the Iowa Hawkeyes

Iowa Hawkeyes football

The Iowa Hawkeyes football team is the interscholastic football team at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa. The Hawkeyes have competed in the Big Ten Conference since 1900, and are currently a Division I Football Bowl Subdivision member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association...

 on the Friday following Thanksgiving, also on ABC; Colorado will revive a decades-dormant rivalry with the Utah Utes

Utah Utes football

The Utah Utes football program is a college football team that currently competes in the Pacific-12 Conference of the Football Bowl Subdivision of NCAA Division I and represents the University of Utah. The Utah college football program began in 1892 and has played home games at Rice–Eccles...

the same day.

Game results

Colorado victories are shaded ██ gold. Nebraska victories are shaded in ██ red.

Date	Site	Winning team		Losing team		Series	Attendance
November 17, 1898	Boulder	Nebraska	23	Colorado	10	NU 1-0
October 4, 1902	Boulder	Nebraska	10	Colorado	0	NU 2-0
October 24, 1903	Lincoln	Nebraska	31	Colorado	0	NU 3-0
October 8, 1904	Boulder	Colorado	6	Nebraska	0	NU 3-1
November 11, 1905	Lincoln	Nebraska	18	Colorado	0	NU 4-1
October 26, 1907	Lincoln	Nebraska	22	Colorado	8	NU 5-1
October 9, 1948	Boulder	Colorado	16	Nebraska	9	NU 5-2
November 19, 1949	Lincoln	Nebraska	25	Colorado	14	NU 6-2	32,000
October 14, 1950	Boulder	Colorado	28	Nebraska	19	NU 6-3	25,000
November 17, 1951	Lincoln	Colorado	36	Nebraska	14	NU 6-4	31,000
October 25, 1952	Boulder	Nebraska	16	Colorado	16	NU 6-4-1	30,600
November 14, 1953	Lincoln	Colorado	14	Nebraska	10	NU 6-5-1	36,000
October 23, 1954	Boulder	Nebraska	20	#11 Colorado	6	NU 7-5-1	32,500
November 12, 1955	Lincoln	Nebraska	37	Colorado	20	NU 8-5-1	34,000
October 27, 1956	Boulder	Colorado	16	Nebraska	0	NU 8-6-1	42,818
November 16, 1957	Lincoln	Colorado	27	Nebraska	0	NU 8-7-1	29,264
October 25, 1958	Boulder	#12 Colorado	27	Nebraska	16	TIE 8-8-1	40,271
November 14, 1959	Lincoln	Nebraska	14	Colorado	12	NU 9-8-1	27,808
October 22, 1960	Boulder	Colorado	19	Nebraska	6	TIE 9-9-1	40,409
November 18, 1961	Lincoln	#8 Colorado	7	Nebraska	0	CU 9-10-1	28,108
October 27, 1962	Boulder	Nebraska	31	Colorado	6	TIE 10-10-1	34,183
October 26, 1963	Lincoln	Nebraska	41	Colorado	6	NU 11-10-1	37,630
October 24, 1964	Boulder	#5 Nebraska	21	Colorado	3	NU 12-10-1	41,472
October 23, 1965	Lincoln	#3 Nebraska	38	Colorado	13	NU 13-10-1	53,873
October 22, 1966	Boulder	#7 Nebraska	21	Colorado	19	NU 14-10-1	46,112
October 21, 1967	Lincoln	#4 Colorado	21	Nebraska	16	NU 14-11-1	65,842
November 16, 1968	Boulder	Nebraska	22	Colorado	6	NU 15-11-1	48,327
November 1, 1969	Lincoln	Nebraska	20	#18 Colorado	7	NU 16-11-1	67,084
October 31, 1970	Boulder	#4 Nebraska	29	Colorado	13	NU 17-11-1	50,881
October 30, 1971	Lincoln	#1 Nebraska	31	#9 Colorado	7	NU 18-11-1	66,776
November 4, 1972	Boulder	#3 Nebraska	33	#15 Colorado	10	NU 19-11-1	52,128
October 3, 1973	Lincoln	#13 Nebraska	28	#17 Colorado	16	NU 20-11-1	76,555
November 2, 1974	Boulder	#9 Nebraska	31	Colorado	15	NU 21-11-1	52,949
October 25, 1975	Lincoln	#4 Nebraska	63	Colorado	21	NU 22-11-1	76,509
October 9, 1976	Boulder	#6 Nebraska	24	Colorado	12	NU 23-11-1	53,538
October 22, 1977	Lincoln	#18 Nebraska	33	#7 Colorado	15	NU 24-11-1	76,486
October 21, 1978	Boulder	#5 Nebraska	52	Colorado	14	NU 25-11-1	53,262
October 27, 1979	Lincoln	#2 Nebraska	38	Colorado	10	NU 26-11-1	76,158
October 25, 1980	Boulder	#9 Nebraska	45	Colorado	7	NU 27-11-1	51,489
October 10, 1981	Lincoln	Nebraska	59	Colorado	0	NU 28-11-1	76,169
October 9, 1982	Boulder	#7 Nebraska	40	Colorado	14	NU 29-11-1	53,022
October 22, 1983	Lincoln	#1 Nebraska	69	Colorado	19	NU 30-11-1	76,268
October 20, 1984	Boulder	#5 Nebraska	24	Colorado	7	NU 31-11-1	52,124
October 26, 1985	Lincoln	#5 Nebraska	17	Colorado	7	NU 32-11-1	76,014
October 25, 1986	Boulder	Colorado	20	#3 Nebraska	10	NU 32-12-1	52,440
November 28, 1987	Boulder	#5 Nebraska	24	Colorado	7	NU 33-12-1	52,026
November 12, 1988	Lincoln	#7 Nebraska	7	#19 Colorado	0	NU 34-12-1	76,359
November 4, 1989	Boulder	#2 Colorado	27	#3 Nebraska	21	NU 34-13-1	52,877
November 3, 1990	Lincoln	#9 Colorado	27	#3 Nebraska	12	NU 34-14-1	76,464
November 2, 1991	Boulder	#15 Colorado	19	#9 Nebraska	19	NU 34-14-2	52,319
October 31, 1992	Lincoln	#8 Nebraska	52	#8 Colorado	7	NU 35-14-2	76,287
October 30, 1993	Boulder	#6 Nebraska	21	#20 Colorado	17	NU 36-14-2	52,277
October 29, 1994	Lincoln	#3 Nebraska	24	#2 Colorado	7	NU 37-14-2	76,131
October 28, 1995	Boulder	#2 Nebraska	44	#7 Colorado	21	NU 38-14-2	54,063
November 29, 1996	Lincoln	#8 Nebraska	17	Colorado	12	NU 39-14-2	75,575
November 28, 1997	Boulder	#2 Nebraska	27	Colorado	24	NU 40-14-2	52,738
November 27, 1998	Lincoln	#14 Nebraska	16	Colorado	14	NU 41-14-2	75,958
November 26, 1999	Boulder	#3 Nebraska	33	Colorado	30	NU 42-14-2	52,946
November 24, 2000	Lincoln	#10 Nebraska	34	Colorado	32	NU 43-14-2	77,672
November 23, 2001	Boulder	#14 Colorado	62	#2 Nebraska	36	NU 43-15-2	53,790
November 29, 2002	Lincoln	#13 Colorado	28	Nebraska	13	NU 43-16-2	77,804
November 28, 2003	Boulder	#25 Nebraska	31	Colorado	22	NU 44-16-2	53,434
November 26, 2004	Lincoln	Colorado	26	Nebraska	20	NU 44-17-2	77,661
November 25, 2005	Boulder	Nebraska	30	Colorado	3	NU 45-17-2	54,831
November 24, 2006	Lincoln	#23 Nebraska	37	Colorado	14	NU 46-17-2	85,800
November 23, 2007	Boulder	Colorado	65	Nebraska	51	NU 46-18-2	51,403
November 28, 2008	Lincoln	Nebraska	40	Colorado	31	NU 47-18-2	85,319
November 27, 2009	Boulder	Nebraska	28	Colorado	20	NU 48-18-2	54,214
November 26, 2010	Lincoln	#16 Nebraska	45	Colorado	17	NU 49-18-2	85,646