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Illinois vs. Michigan

Illinois and Michigan first met in 1898 and have played 98 times; Michigan leads the series 72–⁠24–⁠2. Over the last 10 meetings it’s Michigan 7–⁠3.

Scheduled 2027 at Michigan. As the programs’ Wikipedia articles list them (CC BY-SA).

Illinois wins
24
Michigan wins
72
Ties
2
First meeting
1898
Longest streak
16 Michigan
Current streak
1 Illinois
Last 10 meetings
Michigan 7–⁠3
Most recent
2024

The series at a glance

’0’1’2’3’4’5’6’7’8’9W–L
1890s0–⁠2
1900s0–⁠3
1910s1–⁠0
1920s4–⁠5
1930s4–⁠6
1940s1–⁠9
1950s7–⁠3
1960s1–⁠9
1970s0–⁠10
1980s1–⁠8–⁠1
1990s2–⁠5–⁠1
2000s2–⁠6
2010s0–⁠5
2020s1–⁠1
Both ranked
13 meetings: Illinois 4, Michigan 9; 3 both in the top 10
Average margin
15.8 points; 37 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
At Illinois
13–⁠36–⁠1 Illinois’s record at home
At Michigan
36–⁠11–⁠1 Michigan’s record at home
Shutouts
27

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

Games that tell the story

  1. Illinois’s biggest win2009: Illinois 38, Michigan 13by 25 points
  2. Michigan’s biggest win1969: Michigan 57, Illinois 0by 57 points
  3. Upset1999: Illinois 35, Michigan 29Illinois had a 11% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  4. Upset1993: Illinois 24, Michigan 21Illinois had a 21% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  5. Upset1946: Illinois 13, Michigan 9Illinois had a 27% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  6. Ranked showdown1989: Michigan 24, Illinois 10No. 3 Michigan at No. 8 Illinois
  7. Ranked showdown1947: Michigan 14, Illinois 7No. 2 Michigan at No. 11 Illinois
  8. Ranked showdown1983: Illinois 16, Michigan 6No. 8 Michigan at No. 9 Illinois

Coach against coach

YearsIllinoisSeriesMichigan
1919–⁠1926Robert Zuppke2–⁠4Fielding Yost
1929–⁠1937Robert Zuppke4–⁠5Harry Kipke
1938–⁠1941Robert Zuppke1–⁠3Fritz Crisler
1942–⁠1947Ray Eliot1–⁠5Fritz Crisler
1948–⁠1958Ray Eliot7–⁠4Bennie Oosterbaan
1960–⁠1966Pete Elliott1–⁠6Bump Elliott
1971–⁠1976Bob Blackman0–⁠6Bo Schembechler
1977–⁠1979Gary Moeller0–⁠3Bo Schembechler
1980–⁠1987Mike White1–⁠6–⁠1Bo Schembechler
1992–⁠1994Lou Tepper1–⁠1–⁠1Gary Moeller
1999–⁠2004Ron Turner1–⁠5Lloyd Carr
2008–⁠2010Ron Zook2–⁠1Rich Rodriguez

Head-coach pairings with three or more meetings on file, the series read from Illinois’s side (Zuppke 2–⁠4 against Yost). A season split between coaches goes to the one credited with the game.

Both programs through the years

End-of-season Elo ratings of Illinois and Michigan, 1898 on13001500170019001900192019401960198020002020

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

Roy Roundtree Michigan9 catches, 246 yards, 2 TD2010 Receiving
Mike Hart Michigan40 carries, 234 yards, 1 TD2004 Rushing

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

From the newspapers

  • The The Indianapolis journal's story of the 1898 game: ON A FIELD OF MUD. Illinois Defeated by Michigan by n Score of 10 to ;.

    1898 · The Indianapolis journal, Indianapolis [Ind.], Nov 13, 1898

  • The New-York tribune's story of the 1899 game: MICHIGAN WINS FROM ILLINOIS.

    1899 · New-York tribune, New York [N.Y.], Oct 29, 1899

  • The The Saint Paul globe's story of the 1900 game: ILLINOIS IEtN SHUI OUT FAILED TO SCORE AGAINST THE. HEAVY MEN FROM MICHIGAN --- TRICKS DIDN'T SUCCEED Both Teams Settled Down to a Game 3 OF. Main Strength and Ignor- ance, Michigan ScOr- ing Twice.

    1900 · The Saint Paul globe, St. Paul, Minn., Oct 28, 1900

  • The The Minneapolis journal's story of the 1905 game: ILLINI LOSE TO YOST'S MACHINE Make Desperate Stands, but Are Overwhelmed by Michigan Score Is SO to O.

    1905 · The Minneapolis journal, Minneapolis, Minn., Nov 5, 1905

  • The The sun's story of the 1906 game: MICHIGAN BRACES Up. Illinois Team Beaten by Good Margin In . Driving RalnstOrm.

    1906 · The sun, New York [N.Y.], Oct 28, 1906

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.

Photos

From the rivalry’s and its games’ categories on Wikimedia Commons (free licenses only, each credited).

Every game

Oct 19, 202422Illinois 21, 24Michigan 7at Illinois
Nov 19, 20223Michigan 19, Illinois 17at Michigan
Oct 12, 201916Michigan 42, Illinois 25at Illinois
Oct 22, 20163Michigan 41, Illinois 8at Michigan
Oct 13, 201225Michigan 45, Illinois 0at Michigan
Nov 12, 201122Michigan 31, Illinois 14at Illinois
Nov 6, 2010Michigan 67, Illinois 65at Michigan
Oct 31, 2009Illinois 38, Michigan 13at Illinois
Oct 4, 2008Illinois 45, Michigan 20at Michigan
Oct 20, 200724Michigan 27, Illinois 17at Illinois
Oct 16, 200414Michigan 30, Illinois 19at Illinois
Oct 18, 200317Michigan 56, Illinois 14at Michigan
Sep 28, 200214Michigan 45, Illinois 28at Illinois
Sep 29, 200117Michigan 45, 22Illinois 20at Michigan
Sep 23, 200010Michigan 35, 19Illinois 31at Illinois
Oct 23, 1999Illinois 35, 9Michigan 29at Michigan
Aug 31, 199612Michigan 20, Illinois 8at Michigan
Sep 2, 199513Michigan 38, 25Illinois 14at Illinois
Oct 22, 199411Michigan 19, Illinois 14at Illinois
Oct 23, 1993Illinois 24, 13Michigan 21at Michigan
Nov 14, 19923Michigan 22, Illinois 22at Michigan
Nov 16, 19914Michigan 20, 25Illinois 0at Illinois
Nov 10, 199019Michigan 22, 17Illinois 17at Michigan
Nov 11, 19893Michigan 24, 8Illinois 10at Illinois
Nov 12, 198813Michigan 38, Illinois 9at Michigan
Nov 14, 1987Michigan 17, Illinois 14at Illinois
Nov 1, 19863Michigan 69, Illinois 13at Michigan
Nov 2, 1985Illinois 3, 4Michigan 3at Illinois
Oct 27, 1984Michigan 26, Illinois 18at Michigan
Oct 29, 19839Illinois 16, 8Michigan 6at Illinois
Nov 6, 198215Michigan 16, Illinois 10at Illinois
Nov 7, 198112Michigan 70, Illinois 21at Michigan
Oct 25, 1980Michigan 45, Illinois 14at Michigan
Oct 20, 197911Michigan 27, Illinois 7at Illinois
Sep 16, 19784Michigan 31, Illinois 0at Michigan
Sep 10, 19772Michigan 37, Illinois 9at Illinois
Nov 13, 19764Michigan 38, Illinois 7at Michigan
Nov 15, 19754Michigan 21, Illinois 15at Illinois
Nov 9, 19744Michigan 14, Illinois 6at Illinois
Nov 10, 19734Michigan 21, Illinois 6at Michigan
Oct 21, 19726Michigan 31, Illinois 7at Illinois
Oct 16, 19713Michigan 35, Illinois 6at Michigan
Nov 7, 19705Michigan 42, Illinois 0at Michigan
Nov 8, 196918Michigan 57, Illinois 0at Illinois
Nov 9, 19687Michigan 36, Illinois 0at Michigan
Nov 11, 1967Michigan 21, Illinois 14at Illinois
Nov 5, 1966Illinois 28, Michigan 21at Michigan
Nov 6, 1965Michigan 23, Illinois 3at Illinois
Nov 7, 1964Michigan 21, Illinois 6at Michigan
Nov 9, 1963Michigan 14, 2Illinois 8at Illinois
Nov 10, 1962Michigan 14, Illinois 10at Michigan
Nov 11, 1961Michigan 38, Illinois 6at Illinois
Nov 5, 1960Michigan 8, Illinois 7at Michigan
Nov 7, 1959Michigan 20, Illinois 15at Illinois
Nov 8, 1958Illinois 21, Michigan 8at Michigan
Nov 9, 1957Illinois 20, 11Michigan 19at Illinois
Nov 10, 195610Michigan 17, Illinois 7at Michigan
Nov 5, 1955Illinois 25, Michigan 6at Illinois
Nov 6, 1954Michigan 14, Illinois 7at Michigan
Nov 7, 19534Illinois 19, 17Michigan 3at Illinois
Nov 1, 1952Illinois 22, 15Michigan 13at Michigan
Nov 3, 19513Illinois 7, 15Michigan 0at Illinois
Nov 4, 195010Illinois 7, Michigan 0at Michigan
Oct 29, 19496Michigan 13, Illinois 0at Illinois
Oct 30, 19481Michigan 28, Illinois 20at Michigan
Nov 1, 19472Michigan 14, 11Illinois 7at Illinois
Oct 26, 1946Illinois 13, 8Michigan 9at Michigan
Oct 27, 194516Michigan 19, Illinois 0at Illinois
Nov 11, 19448Michigan 14, 10Illinois 0at Michigan
Oct 30, 19437Michigan 42, Illinois 6at Illinois
Oct 31, 194213Michigan 28, 12Illinois 14at Michigan
Nov 1, 19417Michigan 20, Illinois 0at Illinois
Oct 19, 19403Michigan 28, Illinois 0at Michigan
Nov 4, 1939Illinois 16, 2Michigan 7at Illinois
Oct 29, 193813Michigan 14, Illinois 0at Michigan
Oct 30, 1937Michigan 7, Illinois 6at Illinois
Oct 31, 1936Illinois 9, Michigan 6at Michigan
Nov 9, 1935Illinois 3, Michigan 0at Illinois
Oct 27, 1934Illinois 7, Michigan 6at Michigan
Nov 4, 1933Michigan 7, Illinois 6at Illinois
Oct 22, 1932Michigan 32, Illinois 0at Michigan
Oct 24, 1931Michigan 35, Illinois 0at Illinois
Oct 25, 1930Michigan 15, Illinois 7at Michigan
Oct 26, 1929Illinois 14, Michigan 0at Illinois
Nov 3, 1928Michigan 3, Illinois 0at Michigan
Oct 29, 1927Illinois 14, Michigan 0at Illinois
Oct 23, 1926Michigan 13, Illinois 0at Michigan
Oct 24, 1925Michigan 3, Illinois 0at Illinois
Oct 18, 1924Illinois 39, Michigan 14at Illinois
Oct 28, 1922Michigan 24, Illinois 0at Michigan
Oct 29, 1921Michigan 3, Illinois 0at Illinois
Oct 23, 1920Illinois 7, Michigan 6at Michigan
Nov 15, 1919Illinois 29, Michigan 7at Illinois
Oct 27, 1906Michigan 28, Illinois 9at Michigan
Nov 4, 1905Michigan 33, Illinois 0at Illinois
Oct 27, 1900Michigan 12, Illinois 0at Illinois
Oct 28, 1899Michigan 5, Illinois 0at Illinois
Nov 12, 1898Michigan 12, Illinois 5at Michigan

Every game is listed as played on the field.