Amherst vs. Columbia

Amherst and Columbia first met in 1889 and have played 10 times; Columbia leads the series 4–⁠3–⁠3. Over the last 10 meetings it’s Columbia 4–⁠3.

Amherst wins
3
Columbia wins
4
Ties
3
First meeting
1889
Longest streak
1 Columbia
Current streak
1 Columbia
Last 10 meetings
Columbia 4–⁠3
Most recent
1949

The series at a glance

Every meeting by decade, colored by the winner
’0’1’2’3’4’5’6’7’8’9W–L
1880s0–⁠0–⁠1
1890s0–⁠1
1900s2–⁠1–⁠1
1920s1–⁠1–⁠1
1940s0–⁠1
Average margin
13 points; 1 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
At Columbia
4–⁠3–⁠3 Columbia’s record at home
Shutouts
4

Every meeting on file, as played. Ranks are the AP poll’s going in.

Games that tell the story

  1. Amherst’s biggest win1902: Amherst 29, Columbia 0by 29 points
  2. Columbia’s biggest win1922: Columbia 43, Amherst 6by 37 points
  3. Upset1921: Amherst 9, Columbia 7Amherst had a 15% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  4. Upset1904: Amherst 12, Columbia 0Amherst had a 31% chance, by our ratings before kickoff

Both programs through the years

End-of-season Elo ratings of Amherst and Columbia, 1889 on1300150017001900192019401960198020002020

Our Elo rating at the end of each season, a measure of how strong a team was, not a forecast; 1500 is an average FBS team.

From the newspapers

  • The New-York tribune's story of the 1899 game: COLUMBIA Az EASY WINNER. ~ SPITE OF POOR DEFENSIVE WORK SHE SCORES IS TO AMHERST's o AT MANI ATTAIN FIFTD

    1899 · New-York tribune, New York [N.Y.], Oct 22, 1899

  • The New-York tribune's story of the 1902 game: COLUMBIA WOFULLY WEAK, AMHERST HAS NO TROUBLE IN DEFEAT ING THE LOCAL ELEVEN % TO o.

    1902 · New-York tribune, New York [N.Y.], Nov 16, 1902

  • The The sun's story of the 1903 game: COLUMBIA,S GOOD VICTORY. Two T0uchdOwns Az ainst Amherst. the First Right at the Start.

    1903 · The sun, Oct 18, 1903

  • The New-York tribune's story of the 1904 game: VICTORY FOR AMHERST. COLUMBIA LOSES. 70 TO o. Massachusetts, Elsuen Outclosses the Blue and White.

    1904 · New-York tribune, New York [N.Y.], Oct 16, 1904

  • The Evening star's story of the 1905 game: COLUMBIA TIES AMHERST. Spectacular Game of Foot Ball in New York

    1905 · Evening star, District of Columbia, Oct 22, 1905

Public-domain newspapers from the Library of Congress’s Chronicling America, found through the American Stories dataset (Dell and Harvard, CC BY 4.0). The earliest meetings with a story on file; each game’s page has the full text.

Photos

From the rivalry’s and its games’ categories on Wikimedia Commons (free licenses only, each credited).

Every game

Sep 24, 1949Columbia 27, Amherst 7at Columbia
Oct 6, 1923Columbia 0, Amherst 0at Columbia
Oct 7, 1922Columbia 43, Amherst 6at Columbia
Oct 1, 1921Amherst 9, Columbia 7at Columbia
Oct 21, 1905Columbia 10, Amherst 10at Columbia
Oct 15, 1904Amherst 12, Columbia 0at Columbia
Oct 17, 1903Columbia 12, Amherst 0at Columbia
Nov 15, 1902Amherst 29, Columbia 0at Columbia
Oct 21, 1899Columbia 18, Amherst 0at Columbia
Nov 23, 1889Columbia 0, Amherst 0at Columbia

Every game is listed as played on the field.