Illinois vs. Purdue
101 of their 102 meetings are on file: they first met in 1890, and the earliest on file is 1892; officially, Purdue leads 49–47–6; as played, 48–47–6 in the games on file. Over the last 10 meetings it’s Purdue 7–3. The winner takes home the Purdue Cannon, played for since about 1943. Purdue has held it since the 2026 game. The official count covers every meeting. Share
2027 at Purdue; 2028 at Illinois. As the programs’ Wikipedia articles list them (CC BY-SA).
- Official series
- Purdue leads 49–47–6
- Illinois wins on file
- 47
- Purdue wins on file
- 48
- Ties
- 6
- Earliest on file
- 1892 first met 1890
- Longest streak
- 6 Illinois
- Current streak
- 1 Purdue
- Last 10 meetings
- Purdue 7–3
- Most recent
- 2026
The series at a glance
| ’0 | ’1 | ’2 | ’3 | ’4 | ’5 | ’6 | ’7 | ’8 | ’9 | W–L | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1890s | 1–4–2 | ||||||||||
| 1900s | 9–1 | ||||||||||
| 1910s | 5–0–2 | ||||||||||
| 1930s | 0–2 | ||||||||||
| 1940s | 3–3 | ||||||||||
| 1950s | 1–5–2 | ||||||||||
| 1960s | 4–6 | ||||||||||
| 1970s | 6–4 | ||||||||||
| 1980s | 6–4 | ||||||||||
| 1990s | 4–3 | ||||||||||
| 2000s | 2–5 | ||||||||||
| 2010s | 4–6 | ||||||||||
| 2020s | 2–5 |
- Both ranked
- 1 meeting: Illinois 1, Purdue 0
- Average margin
- 14.2 points; 36 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
- At Illinois
- 23–26–2 Illinois’s record at home
- At Purdue
- 22–24–4 Purdue’s record at home
- Shutouts
- 15
Every meeting on file, as played. Ranks are the AP poll’s going in.
Purdue Cannon
- Played for since
- about 1943
- Games for it on file
- 75 Illinois 32, Purdue 41, 2 tied
Who holds it comes from the games on file: the winner of the latest regular-season meeting since about 1943 (bowl rematches aren’t played for it); a tie leaves it with the holder (the usual rule; the article doesn’t say). The rivalry’s article counts the games for it: Purdue leads, 41–32–2. From Wikipedia’s list of rivalry games and the rivalry’s article (CC BY-SA). More on the Purdue Cannon.
Games that tell the story
- Illinois’s biggest win1946: Illinois 43, Purdue 7by 36 points
- Purdue’s biggest win1997: Purdue 48, Illinois 3by 45 points
- Upset1962: Illinois 14, Purdue 10Illinois had a 11% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
- Upset1970: Illinois 23, Purdue 21Illinois had a 14% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
- Upset2026: Purdue 24, Illinois 17Purdue had a 20% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
- Ranked showdown2001: Illinois 38, Purdue 13No. 21 Illinois at No. 20 Purdue
Coach against coach
| Years | Illinois | Series | Purdue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1947–1955 | Ray Eliot | 3–4 | Stuart Holcomb |
| 1956–1959 | Ray Eliot | 0–2–2 | Jack Mollenkopf |
| 1960–1966 | Pete Elliott | 4–3 | Jack Mollenkopf |
| 1967–1969 | James Valek | 0–3 | Jack Mollenkopf |
| 1973–1976 | Bob Blackman | 3–1 | Alex Agase |
| 1977–1979 | Gary Moeller | 1–2 | Jim Young |
| 1982–1986 | Mike White | 4–1 | Leon Burtnett |
| 1988–1990 | John Mackovic | 3–0 | Fred Akers |
| 1992–1994 | Lou Tepper | 2–1 | Jim Colletto |
| 1997–2004 | Ron Turner | 2–4 | Joe Tiller |
| 2009–2011 | Ron Zook | 1–2 | Danny Hope |
| 2017–2020 | Lovie Smith | 1–3 | Jeff Brohm |
Head-coach pairings with three or more meetings on file, the series read from Illinois’s side (Eliot 3–4 against Holcomb). A season split between coaches goes to the one credited with the game.
Both programs through the years
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
| Kyle Orton Purdue | 35 of 50, 366 yards, 4 TD | 2004 Passing | |
| Hank Beatty Illinois | 5 catches, 186 yards, 1 TD | 2025 Receiving |
Biggest days: the week’s best individual games by our big-days rule, from box scores (2004 on).
From the newspapers
1896 · Rock Island Argus, Rock Island, Ill., Nov 27, 1896
1897 · The Indianapolis journal, Indianapolis [Ind.], Oct 24, 1897
1901 · The Indianapolis journal, Indianapolis [Ind.], Nov 17, 1901
1902 · The Indianapolis journal, Indianapolis [Ind.], Oct 19, 1902
1904 · Waterbury evening Democrat, Oct 24, 1904
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
| 2026 | BTN | 0.3 million viewers |
Viewers: Nielsen, as compiled by nschultz7’s ratings tracker.
Every game
Every game is listed as played on the field.