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Colgate vs. Harvard

Colgate and Harvard have 6 meetings on file, the first in 1952; Harvard leads the series 4–⁠2 in the games on file. Over the last 6 meetings it’s Harvard 4–⁠2, and Harvard has won the last 2.

Colgate wins
2
Harvard wins
4
Ties
0
Earliest on file
1952
Longest streak
2 Harvard
Current streak
2 Harvard
Last 10 meetings
Harvard 4–⁠2
Most recent
2026

The series at a glance

’0’1’2’3’4’5’6’7’8’9W–L
1950s0–⁠2
1960s1–⁠0
1970s1–⁠1
2020s0–⁠1
Average margin
6.8 points; 4 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
At Harvard
4–⁠2 Harvard’s record at home
Shutouts
1

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

Games that tell the story

  1. Colgate’s biggest win1977: Colgate 38, Harvard 21by 17 points
  2. Harvard’s biggest win2026: Harvard 20, Colgate 17by 3 points
  3. Upset1961: Colgate 15, Harvard 0Colgate had a 29% chance, by our ratings before kickoff

Both programs through the years

End-of-season Elo ratings of Colgate and Harvard, 1952 on1300150017001960197019801990200020102020

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 Evening star's story of the 1952 game

    1952 · Evening star, Washington, D.C., Oct 19, 1952

  • The Evening star's story of the 1953 game: Harvard Nips Colgate, 1926 CIusby Figures in All Scores

    1953 · Evening star, District of Columbia, Oct 11, 1953

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 3, 2026Harvard 20, Colgate 17at Harvard
Oct 7, 1978Harvard 24, Colgate 21at Harvard
Oct 1, 1977Colgate 38, Harvard 21at Harvard
Oct 14, 1961Colgate 15, Harvard 0at Harvard
Oct 10, 1953Harvard 28, Colgate 26at Harvard
Oct 18, 1952Harvard 21, Colgate 20at Harvard

Every game is listed as played on the field.