Columbia vs. Stanford

Columbia and Stanford have 3 meetings on file, the first in 1933; Columbia leads the series 2–⁠0–⁠1 in the games on file. Over the last 3 meetings it’s Columbia 2–⁠0.

Columbia wins
2
Stanford wins
0
Ties
1
Earliest on file
1933
Longest streak
2 Columbia
Current streak
0 tie
Last 10 meetings
Columbia 2–⁠0
Most recent
1937

The series at a glance

Every meeting by decade, colored by the winner
’0’1’2’3’4’5’6’7’8’9W–L
1930s2–⁠0–⁠1
Average margin
4.7 points; 2 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
At Columbia
0–⁠0–⁠1 Columbia’s record at home
Neutral sites
2–⁠0 Columbia first
Shutouts
2

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

Coach against coach

YearsColumbiaSeriesStanford
1933–⁠1937Lou Little2–⁠0–⁠1Tiny Thornhill

Head-coach pairings with three or more meetings on file, the series read from Columbia’s side (Little 2–⁠0–⁠1 against Thornhill). A season split between coaches goes to the one credited with the game.

Both programs through the years

End-of-season Elo ratings of Columbia and Stanford, 1933 on13001500170019401960198020002020

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.

Stars of the series

Named most valuable

Cliff Montgomery Columbia1933

Most valuable: as the games’ Wikipedia articles name them (CC BY-SA).

From the newspapers

  • The Evening star's story of the 1933 game: DEFEATS STANFORD in AMAZING UPSET Two Clever Plays for Only Score, Sterling Defense Win for Lions.

    1933 · Evening star, District of Columbia, Jan 2, 1934

  • The Imperial Valley press's story of the 1936 game: STANFORD DEFEATED 10 BY COLUMBIA

    1936 · Imperial Valley press, Nov 29, 1936

  • The Evening star's story of the 1937 game: STANFORD LUCKY TO TIE COLUMBIA Luckman Is FIashy as Lions 0utgain Coast Eleven in SCoreIess Tilt.

    1937 · Evening star, Washington, D.C., Nov 28, 1937

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

Nov 27, 1937Columbia 0, Stanford 0at Columbia
Nov 28, 1936Columbia 7, Stanford 0Neutral site
Jan 1, 1934Columbia 7, Stanford 0Neutral siteRose Bowl

Every game is listed as played on the field.