Illinois and Northwestern first met in 1892 and have played 119 times; Illinois leads the series 59–55–5. Over the last 10 meetings it’s Northwestern 6–4, and Illinois has won the last 2. The winner takes home the Land of Lincoln Trophy, played for since 2009. Illinois has held it since the 2024 game. Share
Who holds it comes from the games on file: the winner of the latest regular-season meeting since 2009 (bowl rematches aren’t played for it); a tie leaves it with the holder (the usual rule; the article doesn’t say). From Wikipedia’s list of rivalry games and the rivalry’s article (CC BY-SA). More on the Land of Lincoln Trophy.
Head-coach pairings with three or more meetings on file, the series read from Illinois’s side (Hall 2–1 against Hammett). A season split between coaches goes to the one credited with the game.
Both programs through the years
Illinois NorthwesternTicks under the axis: each meeting, in the winner’s color
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.
1910 · The Cairo bulletin, Cairo, Ill., Nov 13, 1910
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.
On television
ESPN’s College GameDay has broadcast from this game once: 2010.
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