Minnesota vs. Northwestern
Minnesota and Northwestern have 99 meetings on file, the first in 1892; Minnesota leads the series 56–38–5 in the games on file. Over the last 10 meetings it’s even at 5–5, and Northwestern has won the last 2. Share
- Minnesota wins
- 56
- Northwestern wins
- 38
- Ties
- 5
- Earliest on file
- 1892
- Longest streak
- 7 Minnesota
- Current streak
- 2 Northwestern
- Last 10 meetings
- even at 5–5
- Most recent
- 2025
The series at a glance
- Both ranked
- 6 meetings: Minnesota 3, Northwestern 3; 4 both in the top 10
- Average margin
- 12.3 points; 42 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
- At Minnesota
- 32–15–3 Minnesota’s record at home
- At Northwestern
- 22–24–2 Northwestern’s record at home
- Neutral sites
- 0–1 Minnesota first
- Shutouts
- 13
Every meeting on file, as played. Ranks are the AP poll’s going in.
Games that tell the story
- Minnesota’s biggest win1905: Minnesota 72, Northwestern 6by 66 points
- Northwestern’s biggest win2017: Northwestern 39, Minnesota 0by 39 points
- Upset1899: Northwestern 11, Minnesota 5Northwestern had a 25% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
- Upset1982: Northwestern 31, Minnesota 21Northwestern had a 25% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
- Upset1974: Northwestern 21, Minnesota 13Northwestern had a 28% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
- Ranked showdown1936: Northwestern 6, Minnesota 0No. 1 Minnesota at No. 3 Northwestern
- Ranked showdown1941: Minnesota 8, Northwestern 7No. 9 Northwestern at No. 1 Minnesota
- Ranked showdown1948: Northwestern 19, Minnesota 16No. 8 Minnesota at No. 3 Northwestern
Coach against coach
| Years | Minnesota | Series | Northwestern |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1935–1946 | Bernie Bierman | 5–4 | Pappy Waldorf |
| 1942–1944 | George Hauser | 1–1–1 | Pappy Waldorf |
| 1947–1950 | Bernie Bierman | 2–2 | Robert Voigts |
| 1951–1953 | Wesley Fesler | 2–1 | Robert Voigts |
| 1956–1963 | Murray Warmath | 3–4–1 | Ara Parseghian |
| 1964–1971 | Murray Warmath | 4–2 | Alex Agase |
| 1973–1977 | Cal Stoll | 4–1 | John Pont |
| 1981–1983 | Joe Salem | 1–2 | Dennis Green |
| 1986–1990 | John Gutekunst | 4–0–1 | Francis Peay |
| 1993–1996 | Jim Wacker | 1–3 | Gary Barnett |
| 1999–2004 | Glen Mason | 4–2 | Randy Walker |
| 2007–2010 | Tim Brewster | 1–3 | Pat Fitzgerald |
| 2011–2015 | Jerry Kill | 2–3 | Pat Fitzgerald |
| 2017–2022 | P.J. Fleck | 3–2 | Pat Fitzgerald |
Head-coach pairings with three or more meetings on file, the series read from Minnesota’s side (Bierman 5–4 against Waldorf). 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
| C.J. Bacher Northwestern | 41 of 58, 470 yards, 4 TD | 2007 Passing | |
| Bryce Kirtz Northwestern | 10 catches, 215 yards, 2 TD | 2023 Receiving | |
| Blake Cashman Minnesota | 20 tackles, 1 sack, 2.5 for loss | 2018 Defense |
Biggest days: the week’s best individual games by our big-days rule, from box scores (2004 on).
From the newspapers
1900 · Reporter and farmer, Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.], Nov 22, 1900
1901 · The Billings gazette, Billings, Mont., Nov 26, 1901
1905 · The Minneapolis journal, Minnesota, Nov 27, 1905
1920 · Evening star, Washington, D.C., Oct 10, 1920
1921 · Grand Forks herald, Grand Forks, N.D., Oct 10, 1921
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
| 2025 | BTN | 0.4 million viewers |
Viewers: Nielsen, as compiled by nschultz7’s ratings tracker.
Every game
Every game is listed as played on the field.