Florida International vs. Western Kentucky

Florida International and Western Kentucky have 17 meetings on file, the first in 2004; officially, Western Kentucky leads 10–⁠6; as played, 10–⁠7 in the games on file. Over the last 10 meetings it’s Western Kentucky 7–⁠3. The NCAA vacated Florida International’s win (2005); it doesn’t count officially. This page counts every game as it was played.

Official series
Western Kentucky leads 10–⁠6
Florida International wins on file
7
Western Kentucky wins on file
10
Ties
0
Earliest on file
2004
Longest streak
5 Western Kentucky
Current streak
1 Florida International
Last 10 meetings
Western Kentucky 7–⁠3
Most recent
2025

The series at a glance

Every meeting by decade, colored by the winner
’0’1’2’3’4’5’6’7’8’9W–L
2000s3–⁠1
2010s3–⁠5
2020s1–⁠4
Average margin
20.8 points; 5 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
At Florida International
4–⁠6 Florida International’s record at home
At Western Kentucky
4–⁠3 Western Kentucky’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. Florida International’s biggest win2017: Florida International 41, Western Kentucky 17by 24 points
  2. Western Kentucky’s biggest win2022: Western Kentucky 73, Florida International 0by 73 points
  3. Upset2025: Florida International 25, Western Kentucky 6Florida International had a 21% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  4. Upset2019: Western Kentucky 20, Florida International 14Western Kentucky had a 31% chance, by our ratings before kickoff

Coach against coach

YearsFlorida InternationalSeriesWestern Kentucky
2010–⁠2012Mario Cristobal1–⁠2Willie Taggart
2019–⁠2021Butch Davis0–⁠3Tyson Helton

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

Both programs through the years

End-of-season Elo ratings of Florida International and Western Kentucky, 2004 on13001500170020052010201520202025

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

Biggest days

Austin Reed Western Kentucky30 of 35, 381 yards, 5 TD2022 Passing
Eli Brown Western Kentucky8 tackles, 3 for loss, 1 INT, 1 TD2020 Defense

Biggest days: the week’s best individual games by our big-days rule, from box scores (2004 on).

On television

2025ESPNU0.0 million viewers

Viewers: Nielsen, as compiled by nschultz7’s ratings tracker.

Every game

Oct 14, 2025Florida International 25, Western Kentucky 6at Western Kentucky
Nov 25, 2023Western Kentucky 41, Florida International 28at Florida International
Sep 24, 2022Western Kentucky 73, Florida International 0at Western Kentucky
Oct 23, 2021Western Kentucky 34, Florida International 19at Florida International
Nov 21, 2020Western Kentucky 38, Florida International 21at Western Kentucky
Sep 7, 2019Western Kentucky 20, Florida International 14at Florida International
Oct 27, 2018Florida International 38, Western Kentucky 17at Western Kentucky
Nov 24, 2017Florida International 41, Western Kentucky 17at Florida International
Nov 5, 2016Western Kentucky 49, Florida International 21at Western Kentucky
Nov 21, 2015Western Kentucky 63, Florida International 7at Florida International
Oct 27, 2012Western Kentucky 14, Florida International 6at Florida International
Nov 5, 2011Western Kentucky 10, Florida International 9at Western Kentucky
Oct 9, 2010Florida International 28, Western Kentucky 21at Florida International
Oct 10, 2009Florida International 37, Western Kentucky 20at Western Kentucky
Dec 6, 2008Florida International 27, Western Kentucky 3at Florida International
Nov 19, 2005Florida International 38, Western Kentucky 35vacatedat Florida International
Nov 20, 2004Western Kentucky 35, Florida International 14at Florida International

Every game is listed as played on the field; a win the NCAA later vacated is marked “vacated”; the official series above counts them the NCAA’s way.