Indiana vs. Northwestern
Indiana and Northwestern have 85 meetings on file, the first in 1899; Northwestern leads the series 47–37–1 in the games on file. Over the last 10 meetings it’s Northwestern 6–4, and Indiana has won the last 3. Share
- Indiana wins
- 37
- Northwestern wins
- 47
- Ties
- 1
- Earliest on file
- 1899
- Longest streak
- 9 Indiana
- Current streak
- 3 Indiana
- Last 10 meetings
- Northwestern 6–4
- Most recent
- 2026
The series at a glance
| ’0 | ’1 | ’2 | ’3 | ’4 | ’5 | ’6 | ’7 | ’8 | ’9 | W–L | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1890s | 0–1 | ||||||||||
| 1900s | 0–1 | ||||||||||
| 1910s | 3–4 | ||||||||||
| 1920s | 5–4 | ||||||||||
| 1930s | 0–3 | ||||||||||
| 1940s | 2–4–1 | ||||||||||
| 1950s | 4–2 | ||||||||||
| 1960s | 1–7 | ||||||||||
| 1970s | 4–6 | ||||||||||
| 1980s | 8–2 | ||||||||||
| 1990s | 5–3 | ||||||||||
| 2000s | 2–6 | ||||||||||
| 2010s | 1–4 | ||||||||||
| 2020s | 2–0 |
- Average margin
- 12.7 points; 39 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
- At Indiana
- 19–17 Indiana’s record at home
- At Northwestern
- 30–17–1 Northwestern’s record at home
- Neutral sites
- 1–0 Indiana first
- Shutouts
- 16
Every meeting on file, as played. Ranks are the AP poll’s going in.
Games that tell the story
- Indiana’s biggest win1990: Indiana 42, Northwestern 0by 42 points
- Northwestern’s biggest win1975: Northwestern 30, Indiana 0by 30 points
- Upset1929: Indiana 19, Northwestern 14Indiana had a 17% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
- Upset1994: Northwestern 20, Indiana 7Northwestern had a 19% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
- Upset1983: Northwestern 10, Indiana 8Northwestern had a 28% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
Coach against coach
| Years | Indiana | Series | Northwestern |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1923–1925 | William Ingram | 1–2 | Glenn Thistlethwaite |
| 1927–1930 | Pat Page | 3–1 | Dick Hanley |
| 1940–1946 | Bo McMillin | 2–3–1 | Pappy Waldorf |
| 1952–1954 | Bernie Crimmins | 2–1 | Robert Voigts |
| 1959–1963 | Phil Dickens | 0–5 | Ara Parseghian |
| 1965–1972 | John Pont | 1–5 | Alex Agase |
| 1973–1977 | Lee Corso | 2–3 | John Pont |
| 1978–1980 | Lee Corso | 3–0 | Rick Venturi |
| 1986–1991 | Bill Mallory | 6–0 | Francis Peay |
| 1992–1996 | Bill Mallory | 2–3 | Gary Barnett |
| 1999–2001 | Cam Cameron | 2–1 | Randy Walker |
| 2002–2004 | Gerry DiNardo | 0–3 | Randy Walker |
| 2007–2010 | Bill Lynch | 1–3 | Pat Fitzgerald |
| 2011–2016 | Kevin Wilson | 0–3 | Pat Fitzgerald |
Head-coach pairings with three or more meetings on file, the series read from Indiana’s side (Ingram 1–2 against Thistlethwaite). 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
| Kurtis Rourke Indiana | 25 of 33, 380 yards, 3 TD | 2024 Passing | |
| Noah Herron Northwestern | 29 carries, 197 yards, 3 TD | 2004 Rushing | |
| Lee Beebe Indiana | 24 carries, 203 yards, 1 TD | 2026 Rushing |
Biggest days: the week’s best individual games by our big-days rule, from box scores (2004 on).
From the newspapers
1911 · The daily Gate City, Keokuk, Iowa, Oct 22, 1911
1912 · Evening star, Washington, D.C., Oct 27, 1912
1913 · Rock Island Argus, Rock Island, Ill., Nov 17, 1913
1914 · Evening star, Washington, D.C., Oct 18, 1914
1915 · Evening star, District of Columbia, Nov 14, 1915
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 | FOX | 3.9 million viewers |
Viewers: Nielsen, as compiled by nschultz7’s ratings tracker.
Every game
Every game is listed as played on the field.