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Illinois vs. Wabash

Illinois and Wabash first met in 1893 and have played 8 times; Illinois leads the series 7–⁠0–⁠1. Over the last 8 meetings it’s Illinois 7–⁠0, and Illinois has won the last 2.

Illinois wins
7
Wabash wins
0
Ties
1
First meeting
1893
Longest streak
5 Illinois
Current streak
2 Illinois
Last 10 meetings
Illinois 7–⁠0
Most recent
1926

The series at a glance

’0’1’2’3’4’5’6’7’8’9W–L
1890s3–⁠0
1900s2–⁠0–⁠1
1920s2–⁠0
Average margin
24.3 points; 1 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
At Illinois
6–⁠0–⁠1 Illinois’s record at home
At Wabash
0–⁠1 Wabash’s record at home
Shutouts
3

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

Games that tell the story

  1. Illinois’s biggest win1893: Illinois 60, Wabash 6by 54 points

Both programs through the years

End-of-season Elo ratings of Illinois and Wabash, 1893 on1300150017001900192019401960198020002020

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 Indianapolis journal's story of the 1894 game: FOOTBALL is ON TAP INDIANAPOLIS LIGHT ARTILLERY DEFEATED BY PURDUE, O II 4. The Soldiers Were Unlucky, and Lost by Failing to Kick Gonl-Wabash Beaten by Illinois University. Special 60 the Indianapolis journal.

    1894 · The Indianapolis journal, Indianapolis [Ind.], Oct 7, 1894

  • The The St. Louis Republic's story of the 1904 game: ILLINOIS DEFEATS WABASH. Collexiaus Succeed in Scoring ON the Varsity Team.

    1904 · The St. Louis Republic, St. Louis, Mo., Sep 29, 1904

  • The Omaha daily bee's story of the 1905 game: MID-wEEK GAMES ON GRIDIRON University of Chicago Wins from BeIOit Thirty-EIEht to Nothing.

    1905 · Omaha daily bee, Nebraska, Oct 5, 1905

  • The The Minneapolis journal's story of the 1906 game: Cayou's Men Play a Great Game on the Urbana -. Gridiron.

    1906 · The Minneapolis journal, Minneapolis, Minn., Oct 14, 1906

  • The The Alaska daily empire's story of the 1925 game: FOOTBALL FINALS.

    1925 · The Alaska daily empire, Alaska, Nov 14, 1925

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

Nov 13, 1926Illinois 27, Wabash 13at Illinois
Nov 14, 1925Illinois 21, Wabash 0at Illinois
Oct 13, 1906Illinois 0, Wabash 0at Illinois
Oct 4, 1905Illinois 6, Wabash 0at Illinois
Sep 28, 1904Illinois 23, Wabash 2at Illinois
Oct 5, 1895Illinois 48, Wabash 0at Illinois
Oct 6, 1894Illinois 36, Wabash 6at Wabash
Sep 30, 1893Illinois 60, Wabash 6at Illinois

Every game is listed as played on the field.