Army vs. Columbia

Army and Columbia have 21 meetings on file, the first in 1899; Army leads the series 14–⁠4–⁠3 in the games on file. Over the last 10 meetings it’s Army 8–⁠1, and Army has won the last 5.

Army wins
14
Columbia wins
4
Ties
3
Earliest on file
1899
Longest streak
5 Army
Current streak
5 Army
Last 10 meetings
Army 8–⁠1
Most recent
1982

The series at a glance

Every meeting by decade, colored by the winner
’0’1’2’3’4’5’6’7’8’9W–L
1890s0–⁠1
1920s0–⁠1–⁠1
1930s2–⁠1–⁠1
1940s5–⁠1
1950s6–⁠0–⁠1
1980s1–⁠0
Both ranked
1 meeting: Army 1, Columbia 0
Average margin
23.6 points; 4 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
At Army
9–⁠2–⁠1 Army’s record at home
At Columbia
2–⁠5–⁠2 Columbia’s record at home
Shutouts
6

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

Games that tell the story

  1. Army’s biggest win1956: Army 60, Columbia 0by 60 points
  2. Columbia’s biggest win1899: Columbia 16, Army 0by 16 points
  3. Upset1947: Columbia 21, Army 20Columbia had a 25% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  4. Upset1938: Columbia 20, Army 18Columbia had a 33% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  5. Ranked showdown1946: Army 48, Columbia 14No. 11 Columbia at No. 1 Army

Coach against coach

YearsArmySeriesColumbia
1941–⁠1956Red Blaik11–⁠1–⁠1Lou Little

Head-coach pairings with three or more meetings on file, the series read from Army’s side (Blaik 11–⁠1–⁠1 against Little). A season split between coaches goes to the one credited with the game.

Both programs through the years

End-of-season Elo ratings of Army and Columbia, 1899 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'S VICTORY OVER CADETS WEST POINT MEN OUTPLAYED-DETAILs OF LIE GAME

    1899 · New-York tribune, New York [N.Y.], Nov 12, 1899

  • The The Birmingham age-herald's story of the 1924 game: FIVE TEAMS IN EASTERN RACE Penn Leading With 8 Victories And One Tie

    1924 · The Birmingham age-herald, Alabama, Nov 17, 1924

  • The Evening star's story of the 1937 game: CADETS To FRONT IN 21-18 THRILLER luckman Of Columbia Star in Defeat-Lead Changes Hands Five Times.

    1937 · Evening star, Oct 10, 1937

  • The Evening star's story of the 1938 game

    1938 · Evening star, District of Columbia, Oct 9, 1938

  • The The Nome nugget's story of the 1939 game: Football Scores

    1939 · The Nome nugget, Alaska, Oct 16, 1939

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), and libraries and archives found through the Digital Public Library of America (each under its holder’s rights statement).

Every game

Oct 30, 1982Army 41, Columbia 8at Army
Oct 27, 1956Army 60, Columbia 0at Columbia
Oct 22, 1955Army 45, Columbia 0at Army
Oct 23, 19549Army 67, Columbia 12at Columbia
Oct 24, 1953Army 40, Columbia 7at Army
Oct 25, 1952Columbia 14, Army 14at Columbia
Oct 27, 1951Army 14, Columbia 9at Army
Oct 28, 19502Army 34, Columbia 0at Columbia
Oct 22, 19492Army 63, Columbia 6at Army
Oct 25, 1947Columbia 21, 6Army 20at Columbia
Oct 19, 19461Army 48, 11Columbia 14at Army
Oct 16, 19432Army 52, Columbia 0at Columbia
Oct 17, 194218Army 34, Columbia 6at Columbia
Oct 25, 1941Army 13, Columbia 0at Army
Oct 14, 1939Columbia 6, Army 6at Columbia
Oct 8, 1938Columbia 20, Army 18at Army
Oct 9, 1937Army 21, Columbia 18at Army
Oct 10, 1936Army 27, Columbia 16at Army
Nov 14, 1925Columbia 21, Army 7at Columbia
Nov 15, 1924Army 14, Columbia 14at Army
Nov 11, 1899Columbia 16, Army 0at Army

Every game is listed as played on the field.