Illinois vs. Nebraska

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

1. Illinois’s biggest win2020: Illinois 41, Nebraska 23by 18 points
2. Nebraska’s biggest win1986: Nebraska 59, Illinois 14by 45 points
3. Upset2020: Illinois 41, Nebraska 23Illinois had a 31% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
4. Upset1923: Illinois 24, Nebraska 7Illinois had a 34% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
5. Ranked showdown1985: Nebraska 52, Illinois 25No. 20 Illinois at No. 18 Nebraska
6. Ranked showdown2024: Illinois 31, Nebraska 24No. 24 Illinois at No. 22 Nebraska

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

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.

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

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  1903 · The Indianapolis journal, Indianapolis [Ind.], Nov 27, 1903

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  1904 · The Topeka state journal, Topeka, Kansas, Nov 25, 1904

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  1905 · Omaha daily bee, Omaha [Neb.], Dec 1, 1905

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  1923 · San Antonio light, San Antonio, Tex., Oct 7, 1923

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  1953 · Evening star, Sep 27, 1953

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 is listed as played on the field.

• Illinois vs. Northwestern119 meetings, Illinois 59–⁠55–⁠5
• Illinois vs. Ohio State105 meetings, Illinois 30–⁠71–⁠4
• Illinois vs. Purdue101 meetings, Illinois 47–⁠48–⁠6
• Illinois vs. Michigan98 meetings, Illinois 24–⁠72–⁠2
• Nebraska vs. Kansas109 meetings, Nebraska 88–⁠18–⁠3
• Nebraska vs. Iowa State102 meetings, Nebraska 84–⁠16–⁠2
• Nebraska vs. Missouri96 meetings, Nebraska 60–⁠33–⁠3
• Nebraska vs. Kansas State95 meetings, Nebraska 77–⁠15–⁠3