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Michigan vs. Nebraska

Michigan and Nebraska have 14 meetings on file, the first in 1905; Michigan leads the series 9–⁠4–⁠1 in the games on file. Over the last 10 meetings it’s Michigan 7–⁠3, and Michigan has won the last 5.

Scheduled 2028 at Michigan. As the programs’ Wikipedia articles list them (CC BY-SA).

Michigan wins
9
Nebraska wins
4
Ties
1
Earliest on file
1905
Longest streak
5 Michigan
Current streak
5 Michigan
Last 10 meetings
Michigan 7–⁠3
Most recent
2025

The series at a glance

’0’1’2’3’4’5’6’7’8’9W–L
1900s1–⁠0
1910s1–⁠0–⁠1
1960s0–⁠1
1980s1–⁠0
2000s0–⁠1
2010s2–⁠2
2020s4–⁠0
Both ranked
2 meetings: Michigan 2, Nebraska 0; 1 both in the top 10
Average margin
17 points; 5 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
At Michigan
5–⁠2 Michigan’s record at home
At Nebraska
1–⁠3–⁠1 Nebraska’s record at home
Neutral sites
1–⁠1 Michigan first
Shutouts
2

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

Games that tell the story

  1. Michigan’s biggest win2018: Michigan 56, Nebraska 10by 46 points
  2. Nebraska’s biggest win2012: Nebraska 23, Michigan 9by 14 points
  3. Upset1962: Nebraska 25, Michigan 13Nebraska had a 27% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  4. Ranked showdown1985: Michigan 27, Nebraska 23No. 7 Nebraska at No. 5 Michigan
  5. Ranked showdown2011: Michigan 45, Nebraska 17No. 17 Nebraska at No. 20 Michigan

Coach against coach

YearsMichiganSeriesNebraska
2011–⁠2013Brady Hoke1–⁠2Bo Pelini

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

Both programs through the years

End-of-season Elo ratings of Michigan and Nebraska, 1905 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.

Stars of the series

Named most valuable

Cory Ross Nebraska2005
Leon Hall Michigan2005
Jamie Morris Michigan1985
Mark Messner Michigan1985

Most valuable: as the games’ Wikipedia articles name them (CC BY-SA).

From the newspapers

  • The The Fargo forum and daily republican's story of the 1911 game: CONFERENCE TITLE Won BY MINNESOTA ON COMPARATIVE SCORES aDoPE" RANKS THE GoPHERs AMONG THE BEST TEAMS IN THE LAND HAS NOT LOST A GAME THIS SEASON.

    1911 · The Fargo forum and daily republican, Fargo, N.D., Nov 27, 1911

  • The The Detroit times's story of the 1917 game: MICHIGAN SMOTHERS NEBRASKA II. of NJ. Takes Big Game From Western ers 20 to 0

    1917 · The Detroit times, Michigan, Oct 29, 1917

  • The Evening star's story of the 1962 game: Michigan Is Shocked BY Nebraska, 25-13

    1962 · Evening star, District of Columbia, Sep 30, 1962

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

2025CBS5.3 million viewers

Viewers: Nielsen, as compiled by nschultz7’s ratings tracker.

Photos

From the rivalry’s and its games’ categories on Wikimedia Commons (free licenses only, each credited).

Every game

Sep 20, 202521Michigan 30, Nebraska 27at Nebraska
Sep 30, 20232Michigan 45, Nebraska 7at Nebraska
Nov 12, 20223Michigan 34, Nebraska 3at Michigan
Oct 9, 20219Michigan 32, Nebraska 29at Nebraska
Sep 22, 201819Michigan 56, Nebraska 10at Michigan
Nov 9, 2013Nebraska 17, Michigan 13at Michigan
Oct 27, 2012Nebraska 23, 20Michigan 9at Nebraska
Nov 19, 201120Michigan 45, 17Nebraska 17at Michigan
Dec 28, 2005Nebraska 32, 20Michigan 28AlamodomeAlamo Bowl
Jan 1, 19865Michigan 27, 7Nebraska 23Neutral siteFiesta Bowl
Sep 29, 1962Nebraska 25, Michigan 13at Michigan
Oct 27, 1917Michigan 20, Nebraska 0at Michigan
Nov 25, 1911Nebraska 6, Michigan 6at Nebraska
Oct 21, 1905Michigan 31, Nebraska 0at Michigan

Every game is listed as played on the field.