Columbia vs. Holy Cross

Columbia and Holy Cross first met in 1947 and have played 5 times; Holy Cross leads the series 4–⁠1. Over the last 5 meetings it’s Holy Cross 4–⁠1, and Holy Cross has won the last 4.

Columbia wins
1
Holy Cross wins
4
Ties
0
First meeting
1947
Longest streak
4 Holy Cross
Current streak
4 Holy Cross
Last 10 meetings
Holy Cross 4–⁠1
Most recent
1981

The series at a glance

Every meeting by decade, colored by the winner
’0’1’2’3’4’5’6’7’8’9W–L
1940s1–⁠0
1950s0–⁠1
1960s0–⁠1
1980s0–⁠2
Average margin
19.6 points; 1 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
At Columbia
1–⁠3 Columbia’s record at home
At Holy Cross
1–⁠0 Holy Cross’s record at home
Shutouts
3

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

Games that tell the story

  1. Columbia’s biggest win1947: Columbia 10, Holy Cross 0by 10 points
  2. Holy Cross’s biggest win1959: Holy Cross 34, Columbia 0by 34 points

Both programs through the years

End-of-season Elo ratings of Columbia and Holy Cross, 1947 on13001500170019501960197019801990200020102020

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 1947 game: Columbia 100 Victor As Rossides' Passes Battle Holy Cross

    1947 · Evening star, District of Columbia, Nov 16, 1947

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 31, 1981Holy Cross 14, Columbia 7at Holy Cross
Nov 1, 1980Holy Cross 26, Columbia 0at Columbia
Oct 22, 1960Holy Cross 27, Columbia 6at Columbia
Oct 24, 1959Holy Cross 34, Columbia 0at Columbia
Nov 15, 1947Columbia 10, Holy Cross 0at Columbia

Every game is listed as played on the field.