CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

Harvard vs. Tufts

Harvard and Tufts have 18 meetings on file, the first in 1875; Harvard leads the series 15–⁠3 in the games on file. Over the last 10 meetings it’s Harvard 7–⁠3, and Harvard has won the last 2.

Harvard wins
15
Tufts wins
3
Ties
0
Earliest on file
1875
Longest streak
8 Harvard
Current streak
2 Harvard
Last 10 meetings
Harvard 7–⁠3
Most recent
1966

The series at a glance

’0’1’2’3’4’5’6’7’8’9W–L
1870s2–⁠0
1880s5–⁠0
1910s3–⁠1
1920s2–⁠0
1940s1–⁠1
1950s0–⁠1
1960s2–⁠0
Average margin
32.8 points; 7 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
At Harvard
11–⁠3 Harvard’s record at home
At Tufts
0–⁠4 Tufts’s record at home
Shutouts
13

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

Games that tell the story

  1. Harvard’s biggest win1887: Harvard 86, Tufts 0by 86 points
  2. Tufts’s biggest win1956: Tufts 19, Harvard 13by 6 points
  3. Upset1916: Tufts 7, Harvard 3Tufts had a 5% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  4. Upset1945: Tufts 7, Harvard 6Tufts had a 11% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  5. Upset1956: Tufts 19, Harvard 13Tufts had a 15% chance, by our ratings before kickoff

Both programs through the years

End-of-season Elo ratings of Harvard and Tufts, 1875 on13001500170018801900192019401960198020002020

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 sun's story of the 1914 game: HARVARD BARELY IS VICTOR OVER TUFTS Scores Touchdown That Breaks Tie After Intercepting Forward Pass. FINAL COUNT Is 10 TO 6

    1914 · The sun, New York [N.Y.], Oct 18, 1914

  • The Evening public ledger's story of the 1916 game: HARVARD GRIDIRON SUPREMACY, AFTER REIGN OF FOUR YEARS, APPEARS ON VERGE OF SKIDDING Crimson Already Nipped by Tufts, Hardly Will Complete Schedule Without Tasting Another Defeat, as Yale and Princeton Are Stronger

    1916 · Evening public ledger, Philadelphia [Pa.], Oct 11, 1916

  • The New-York tribune's story of the 1918 game: Harvard Team Beats Tufts in Stubborn Battle on Gridiron

    1918 · New-York tribune, Nov 10, 1918

  • The Norwich bulletin's story of the 1919 game: HARVARD SECOND STRING MEN BEAT TUFTS 23-o

    1919 · Norwich bulletin, Connecticut, Nov 17, 1919

  • The Evening star's story of the 1923 game: IMPROVED HARVARD TEAM BEATS TUFTS

    1923 · Evening star, Nov 4, 1923

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 1, 1966Harvard 45, Tufts 0at Harvard
Oct 2, 1965Harvard 33, Tufts 0at Harvard
Oct 6, 1956Tufts 19, Harvard 13at Harvard
Oct 5, 1946Harvard 49, Tufts 0at Harvard
Oct 6, 1945Tufts 7, Harvard 6at Harvard
Oct 30, 1926Harvard 69, Tufts 6at Harvard
Nov 3, 1923Harvard 16, Tufts 0at Harvard
Nov 15, 1919Harvard 23, Tufts 0at Harvard
Nov 9, 1918Harvard 7, Tufts 0at Harvard
Oct 7, 1916Tufts 7, Harvard 3at Harvard
Oct 17, 1914Harvard 13, Tufts 6at Harvard
Oct 29, 1887Harvard 68, Tufts 0at Harvard
Oct 1, 1887Harvard 86, Tufts 0at Tufts
Oct 9, 1886Harvard 46, Tufts 0at Harvard
Oct 2, 1886Harvard 82, Tufts 0at Tufts
Nov 15, 1884Harvard 51, Tufts 0at Harvard
Nov 24, 1877Harvard 3, Tufts 0at Tufts
Nov 6, 1875Harvard 1, Tufts 0at Tufts

Every game is listed as played on the field.