CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

Brown vs. Harvard

Brown and Harvard first met in 1893 and have played 104 times; Harvard leads the series 78–⁠24–⁠2. Over the last 10 meetings it’s Harvard 9–⁠1, and Harvard has won the last 2.

Brown wins
24
Harvard wins
78
Ties
2
First meeting
1893
Longest streak
21 Harvard
Current streak
2 Harvard
Last 10 meetings
Harvard 9–⁠1
Most recent
2026

The series at a glance

’0’1’2’3’4’5’6’7’8’9W–L
1890s0–⁠8
1900s0–⁠9
1910s2–⁠6–⁠1
1920s4–⁠4
1930s2–⁠5
1940s1–⁠7
1950s6–⁠3–⁠1
1960s1–⁠9
1970s5–⁠5
1980s0–⁠2
2000s1–⁠6
2010s1–⁠9
2020s1–⁠5
Average margin
13.2 points; 41 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
At Brown
8–⁠14 Brown’s record at home
At Harvard
63–⁠16–⁠2 Harvard’s record at home
Neutral sites
0–⁠1 Brown first
Shutouts
26

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

Games that tell the story

  1. Brown’s biggest win1957: Brown 33, Harvard 6by 27 points
  2. Harvard’s biggest win1893: Harvard 58, Brown 0by 58 points
  3. Upset1974: Brown 10, Harvard 7Brown had a 19% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  4. Upset1918: Brown 6, Harvard 3Brown had a 23% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  5. Upset1922: Brown 3, Harvard 0Brown had a 24% chance, by our ratings before kickoff

Coach against coach

YearsBrownSeriesHarvard
1901–⁠1906Edward Robinson0–⁠3Bill Reid
1910–⁠1916Edward Robinson1–⁠5–⁠1Percy Haughton
1919–⁠1925Edward Robinson3–⁠4Bob Fisher
1932–⁠1934DeOrmond McLaughry1–⁠2Eddie Casey
1935–⁠1940DeOrmond McLaughry1–⁠4Dick Harlow
1945–⁠1947Rip Engle0–⁠3Dick Harlow
1951–⁠1956Alva Kelley3–⁠2–⁠1Lloyd Jordan
1959–⁠1966John McLaughry1–⁠7John Yovicsin
1967–⁠1970Len Jardine1–⁠3John Yovicsin
1973–⁠1981John Anderson5–⁠4Joseph Restic

Head-coach pairings with three or more meetings on file, the series read from Brown’s side (Robinson 0–⁠3 against Reid). A season split between coaches goes to the one credited with the game.

Both programs through the years

End-of-season Elo ratings of Brown and Harvard, 1893 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 The Providence news's story of the 1893 game: BROWN AND HARVARD. TIE FIRST MEETING OF THE TWO F0OTBALL TEAMS. Men from College ON the Hill Not In Good Condition-Lsnsd snd stin After Andover Game.

    1893 · The Providence news, Providence [R.I.], Oct 28, 1893

  • The The evening world's story of the 1894 game: BROWN OUTPLAYS HARVARD. The Visitors Score a Touchdown IN 13 Minutes at Cambridge.

    1894 · The evening world, Oct 11, 1894

  • The New-York tribune's story of the 1895 game: BROWN SCORES AGAINST HARVARD.

    1895 · New-York tribune, New York, Oct 20, 1895

  • The New-York tribune's story of the 1896 game: HARVARD DEFEATS BROWN. THE CRIMSON SCORES IL IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE GAME. IN THE SECOND HALF THEIR OPPONENTS Sue CEED IN GETTING THE BALL TO TIE HOME TEAMS FIvE-YARD LINE. But FAIL TO sCORE-A IioTIY CONTESTED

    1896 · New-York tribune, New York, Oct 18, 1896

  • The New-York tribune's story of the 1897 game: noon tho Chicago team winning easily by score Of - g. HARVARD. IS; BROWN. ~ A SHOWING WHICH PLEAsEs THE cAMbRip"E FRIENDS

    1897 · New-York tribune, New York [N.Y.], Oct 24, 1897

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.

Every game

Sep 25, 2026Harvard 14, Brown 10at Brown
Sep 27, 2025Harvard 41, Brown 7at Harvard
Sep 28, 2024Brown 31, Harvard 28at Brown
Sep 22, 2023Harvard 34, Brown 31at Harvard
Sep 24, 2022Harvard 35, Brown 28at Brown
Sep 24, 2021Harvard 49, Brown 17at Harvard
Sep 27, 2019Harvard 42, Brown 7at Harvard
Sep 21, 2018Harvard 31, Brown 17at Brown
Sep 23, 2017Harvard 45, Brown 28at Harvard
Sep 24, 2016Harvard 32, Brown 22at Brown
Sep 26, 2015Harvard 53, Brown 27at Harvard
Sep 27, 2014Harvard 22, Brown 14at Brown
Sep 28, 2013Harvard 41, Brown 23at Harvard
Sep 22, 2012Harvard 45, Brown 31at Brown
Sep 23, 2011Harvard 24, Brown 7at Harvard
Sep 25, 2010Brown 29, Harvard 14at Brown
Sep 25, 2009Harvard 24, Brown 21at Harvard
Sep 27, 2008Brown 24, Harvard 22at Brown
Sep 22, 2007Harvard 24, Brown 17at Harvard
Sep 23, 2006Harvard 38, Brown 21at Brown
Sep 24, 2005Harvard 38, Brown 35at Harvard
Sep 25, 2004Harvard 35, Brown 34Neutral site
Sep 27, 2003Harvard 52, Brown 14at Harvard
Oct 31, 1981Harvard 41, Brown 7at Brown
Nov 1, 1980Harvard 17, Brown 16at Harvard
Nov 3, 1979Brown 23, Harvard 14at Brown
Nov 4, 1978Brown 31, Harvard 30at Harvard
Oct 29, 1977Brown 20, Harvard 15at Brown
Oct 30, 1976Brown 16, Harvard 14at Harvard
Nov 15, 1975Harvard 45, Brown 26at Brown
Nov 16, 1974Brown 10, Harvard 7at Harvard
Nov 17, 1973Harvard 35, Brown 32at Brown
Nov 18, 1972Harvard 21, Brown 14at Harvard
Nov 13, 1971Harvard 24, Brown 19at Brown
Nov 14, 1970Harvard 17, Brown 10at Harvard
Nov 15, 1969Brown 24, Harvard 17at Brown
Nov 16, 1968Harvard 31, Brown 7at Harvard
Nov 18, 1967Harvard 21, Brown 6at Brown
Nov 12, 1966Harvard 24, Brown 7at Harvard
Nov 13, 1965Harvard 17, Brown 8at Brown
Nov 14, 1964Harvard 19, Brown 7at Harvard
Nov 16, 1963Harvard 24, Brown 12at Brown
Nov 17, 1962Harvard 31, Brown 19at Harvard
Nov 18, 1961Harvard 21, Brown 6at Harvard
Nov 12, 1960Harvard 22, Brown 8at Harvard
Nov 14, 1959Brown 16, Harvard 6at Brown
Nov 15, 1958Brown 29, Harvard 22at Harvard
Nov 16, 1957Brown 33, Harvard 6at Harvard
Nov 17, 1956Brown 21, Harvard 12at Harvard
Nov 12, 1955Brown 14, Harvard 6at Harvard
Nov 13, 1954Harvard 21, Brown 21at Harvard
Nov 14, 1953Harvard 27, Brown 20at Harvard
Nov 15, 1952Brown 28, Harvard 21at Brown
Nov 17, 1951Harvard 34, Brown 21at Harvard
Nov 18, 1950Harvard 14, Brown 13at Harvard
Nov 12, 1949Brown 28, Harvard 14at Harvard
Nov 13, 1948Harvard 30, Brown 19at Harvard
Nov 15, 1947Harvard 13, Brown 7at Harvard
Nov 16, 1946Harvard 28, Brown 0at Harvard
Nov 17, 1945Harvard 14, Brown 7at Harvard
Nov 14, 1942Harvard 7, Brown 0at Harvard
Nov 15, 194117Harvard 23, Brown 7at Harvard
Nov 16, 1940Harvard 14, Brown 0at Harvard
Oct 1, 1938Brown 20, Harvard 13at Harvard
Oct 9, 1937Harvard 34, Brown 7at Harvard
Oct 10, 1936Harvard 28, Brown 0at Harvard
Nov 2, 1935Harvard 33, Brown 0at Harvard
Oct 13, 1934Harvard 13, Brown 0at Harvard
Nov 18, 1933Harvard 12, Brown 6at Harvard
Oct 29, 1932Brown 14, Harvard 0at Harvard
Nov 12, 1927Harvard 18, Brown 6at Harvard
Nov 13, 1926Brown 21, Harvard 0at Harvard
Nov 14, 1925Harvard 3, Brown 0at Harvard
Nov 15, 1924Brown 7, Harvard 0at Harvard
Nov 17, 1923Brown 20, Harvard 7at Harvard
Nov 18, 1922Brown 3, Harvard 0at Harvard
Nov 12, 1921Harvard 9, Brown 7at Harvard
Nov 13, 1920Harvard 27, Brown 0at Harvard
Oct 18, 1919Harvard 7, Brown 0at Harvard
Nov 28, 1918Brown 6, Harvard 3at Harvard
Nov 18, 1916Brown 21, Harvard 0at Harvard
Nov 13, 1915Harvard 16, Brown 7at Harvard
Nov 14, 1914Harvard 0, Brown 0at Harvard
Nov 15, 1913Harvard 37, Brown 0at Harvard
Oct 26, 1912Harvard 30, Brown 10at Harvard
Oct 28, 1911Harvard 20, Brown 6at Harvard
Oct 22, 1910Harvard 12, Brown 0at Harvard
Oct 23, 1909Harvard 11, Brown 0at Harvard
Oct 31, 1908Harvard 6, Brown 2at Harvard
Nov 2, 1907Harvard 6, Brown 5at Harvard
Nov 3, 1906Harvard 9, Brown 5at Harvard
Oct 28, 1905Harvard 10, Brown 0at Harvard
Oct 24, 1903Harvard 29, Brown 0at Harvard
Oct 25, 1902Harvard 6, Brown 0at Harvard
Nov 2, 1901Harvard 48, Brown 0at Harvard
Nov 17, 1900Harvard 11, Brown 6at Harvard
Oct 21, 1899Harvard 11, Brown 0at Harvard
Nov 12, 1898Harvard 17, Brown 6at Harvard
Oct 23, 1897Harvard 18, Brown 0at Harvard
Oct 17, 1896Harvard 12, Brown 0at Harvard
Oct 19, 1895Harvard 26, Brown 6at Harvard
Nov 17, 1894Harvard 18, Brown 0at Harvard
Oct 10, 1894Harvard 18, Brown 4at Harvard
Oct 25, 1893Harvard 58, Brown 0at Harvard

Every game is listed as played on the field.