CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

Brown vs. Princeton

Brown and Princeton first met in 1898 and have played 71 times; Princeton leads the series 49–⁠22. Over the last 10 meetings it’s Princeton 9–⁠1, and Princeton has won the last 3.

Brown wins
22
Princeton wins
49
Ties
0
First meeting
1898
Longest streak
18 Princeton
Current streak
3 Princeton
Last 10 meetings
Princeton 9–⁠1
Most recent
2026

The series at a glance

’0’1’2’3’4’5’6’7’8’9W–L
1890s0–⁠2
1900s0–⁠3
1920s1–⁠0
1930s2–⁠2
1940s2–⁠4
1950s1–⁠9
1960s0–⁠10
1970s7–⁠3
1980s1–⁠1
2000s4–⁠3
2010s3–⁠7
2020s1–⁠5
Average margin
17.8 points; 19 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
At Brown
10–⁠18 Brown’s record at home
At Princeton
30–⁠12 Princeton’s record at home
Neutral sites
0–⁠1 Brown first
Shutouts
15

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

Games that tell the story

  1. Brown’s biggest win2011: Brown 34, Princeton 0by 34 points
  2. Princeton’s biggest win2017: Princeton 53, Brown 0by 53 points
  3. Upset1929: Brown 13, Princeton 12Brown had a 31% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  4. Upset2003: Princeton 34, Brown 14Princeton had a 31% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  5. Upset1981: Princeton 20, Brown 17Princeton had a 33% chance, by our ratings before kickoff

Coach against coach

YearsBrownSeriesPrinceton
1946–⁠1949Rip Engle1–⁠3Charles Caldwell
1951–⁠1956Alva Kelley1–⁠5Charles Caldwell
1959–⁠1966John McLaughry0–⁠8Richard Colman
1969–⁠1972Len Jardine0–⁠4Jake McCandless
1973–⁠1977John Anderson5–⁠0Robert Casciola
1978–⁠1981John Anderson3–⁠1Frank Navarro

Head-coach pairings with three or more meetings on file, the series read from Brown’s side (Engle 1–⁠3 against Caldwell). 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 Princeton, 1898 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 morning news's story of the 1898 game: PRINCETON-BROwN GAME. Princeton Wins by a Score of 23 to i'm a Clean Game.

    1898 · The morning news, Savannah, Ga., Oct 30, 1898

  • The The Worcester spy's story of the 1899 game: BROWN SCORED, But Otherwise Princeton Had Things Her Own Way.

    1899 · The Worcester spy, Worcester, Mass., Nov 5, 1899

  • The New-York tribune's story of the 1901 game: PRINCETON, 35; BROWN, o. GOOD WORK BY TIGERS BACKS-LoNG END RUNS A FEATURE.

    1901 · New-York tribune, New York, Oct 20, 1901

  • The The Washington times's story of the 1903 game: TIGERS GIVES BROWN A CRUSHING DEFEAT Princeton Shows Providence Team Under, % to o.

    1903 · The Washington times, Washington [D.C.], Oct 11, 1903

  • The The Daily Alaska empire's story of the 1929 game: GRID GAMES '' ON SATURDAY

    1929 · The Daily Alaska empire, Alaska, Oct 14, 1929

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

Oct 17, 2026Princeton 16, Brown 10at Princeton
Oct 18, 2025Princeton 40, Brown 21at Brown
Oct 18, 2024Princeton 29, Brown 17at Princeton
Oct 14, 2023Brown 28, Princeton 27at Brown
Oct 14, 2022Princeton 35, Brown 19at Princeton
Oct 16, 2021Princeton 56, Brown 42at Brown
Oct 19, 2019Princeton 65, Brown 22at Brown
Oct 13, 2018Princeton 48, Brown 10at Princeton
Oct 14, 2017Princeton 53, Brown 0at Brown
Oct 15, 2016Princeton 31, Brown 7at Princeton
Oct 17, 2015Brown 38, Princeton 31at Brown
Oct 18, 2014Princeton 27, Brown 16at Princeton
Oct 19, 2013Princeton 39, Brown 17at Brown
Oct 13, 2012Princeton 19, Brown 0at Princeton
Oct 15, 2011Brown 34, Princeton 0at Brown
Oct 16, 2010Brown 17, Princeton 13at Princeton
Oct 17, 2009Brown 34, Princeton 17at Brown
Oct 18, 2008Brown 31, Princeton 10at Princeton
Oct 13, 2007Brown 33, Princeton 24at Brown
Oct 13, 2006Princeton 17, Brown 3at Princeton
Oct 15, 2005Brown 31, Princeton 28at Brown
Oct 16, 2004Princeton 24, Brown 10Neutral site
Oct 18, 2003Princeton 34, Brown 14at Brown
Oct 3, 1981Princeton 20, Brown 17at Brown
Oct 4, 1980Brown 28, Princeton 11at Princeton
Oct 6, 1979Brown 31, Princeton 12at Brown
Oct 7, 1978Brown 44, Princeton 16at Princeton
Oct 1, 1977Brown 10, Princeton 7at Brown
Oct 2, 1976Brown 13, Princeton 7at Princeton
Nov 1, 1975Brown 24, Princeton 16at Princeton
Nov 2, 1974Brown 17, Princeton 13at Brown
Nov 3, 1973Brown 7, Princeton 6at Princeton
Nov 4, 1972Princeton 31, Brown 10at Brown
Oct 30, 1971Princeton 49, Brown 21at Princeton
Oct 31, 1970Princeton 42, Brown 14at Brown
Nov 1, 1969Princeton 33, Brown 6at Princeton
Nov 2, 1968Princeton 50, Brown 7at Brown
Nov 4, 1967Princeton 48, Brown 14at Princeton
Oct 29, 1966Princeton 24, Brown 7at Brown
Oct 30, 1965Princeton 45, Brown 27at Princeton
Oct 31, 1964Princeton 14, Brown 0at Brown
Nov 2, 1963Princeton 34, Brown 13at Princeton
Nov 3, 1962Princeton 28, Brown 12at Princeton
Nov 4, 1961Princeton 52, Brown 0at Brown
Oct 29, 1960Princeton 54, Brown 21at Princeton
Oct 31, 1959Princeton 7, Brown 0at Princeton
Nov 1, 1958Princeton 28, Brown 18at Princeton
Nov 2, 1957Princeton 7, Brown 0at Brown
Nov 3, 1956Princeton 21, Brown 7at Princeton
Oct 29, 1955Princeton 14, Brown 7at Princeton
Oct 16, 1954Brown 21, Princeton 20at Brown
Oct 31, 1953Princeton 27, Brown 13at Princeton
Nov 1, 1952Princeton 39, Brown 0at Princeton
Nov 3, 19516Princeton 12, Brown 0at Princeton
Oct 21, 1950Princeton 34, Brown 0at Brown
Oct 15, 1949Princeton 27, Brown 14at Princeton
Oct 2, 1948Brown 23, Princeton 20at Princeton
Sep 30, 1947Princeton 21, Brown 7at Princeton
Oct 5, 1946Princeton 33, Brown 12at Princeton
Oct 16, 1943Brown 28, Princeton 20at Princeton
Oct 24, 1942Princeton 32, Brown 13at Princeton
Oct 28, 1939Princeton 26, Brown 12at Princeton
Nov 4, 1933Princeton 33, Brown 0at Brown
Oct 10, 1931Brown 19, Princeton 7at Princeton
Oct 11, 1930Brown 7, Princeton 0at Princeton
Oct 12, 1929Brown 13, Princeton 12at Princeton
Oct 10, 1903Princeton 29, Brown 0at Brown
Oct 19, 1901Princeton 35, Brown 0at Princeton
Oct 27, 1900Princeton 17, Brown 5at Brown
Nov 4, 1899Princeton 18, Brown 6at Princeton
Oct 29, 1898Princeton 23, Brown 0at Princeton

Every game is listed as played on the field.