Minnesota vs. Washington
Minnesota and Washington have 18 meetings on file, the first in 1936; Minnesota leads the series 11–7 in the games on file. Over the last 10 meetings it’s Washington 6–4, and Minnesota has won the last 2. Share
2027 at Minnesota. As the programs’ Wikipedia articles list them (CC BY-SA).
- Minnesota wins
- 11
- Washington wins
- 7
- Ties
- 0
- Earliest on file
- 1936
- Longest streak
- 7 Minnesota
- Current streak
- 2 Minnesota
- Last 10 meetings
- Washington 6–4
- Most recent
- 2026
The series at a glance
| ’0 | ’1 | ’2 | ’3 | ’4 | ’5 | ’6 | ’7 | ’8 | ’9 | W–L | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1930s | 2–0 | ||||||||||
| 1940s | 5–0 | ||||||||||
| 1950s | 2–5 | ||||||||||
| 1960s | 0–1 | ||||||||||
| 1970s | 1–1 | ||||||||||
| 2020s | 1–0 |
- Both ranked
- 1 meeting: Minnesota 0, Washington 1; 1 both in the top 10
- Average margin
- 13.8 points; 9 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
- At Minnesota
- 6–2 Minnesota’s record at home
- At Washington
- 4–5 Washington’s record at home
- Neutral sites
- 0–1 Minnesota first
- Shutouts
- 3
Every meeting on file, as played. Ranks are the AP poll’s going in.
Games that tell the story
- Minnesota’s biggest win1957: Minnesota 46, Washington 7by 39 points
- Washington’s biggest win1976: Washington 38, Minnesota 7by 31 points
- Upset1955: Washington 30, Minnesota 0Washington had a 26% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
- Upset2026: Minnesota 27, Washington 24Minnesota had a 28% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
- Upset1950: Washington 28, Minnesota 13Washington had a 34% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
- Ranked showdown1960: Washington 17, Minnesota 7No. 1 Minnesota at No. 4 Washington
Coach against coach
| Years | Minnesota | Series | Washington |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1936–1941 | Bernie Bierman | 4–0 | James Phelan |
| 1948–1950 | Bernie Bierman | 2–1 | Howard Odell |
| 1957–1960 | Murray Warmath | 1–2 | Jim Owens |
Head-coach pairings with three or more meetings on file, the series read from Minnesota’s side (Bierman 4–0 against Phelan). 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
Named most valuable
| Bob Schloredt Washington | 1960 |
Most valuable: as the games’ Wikipedia articles name them (CC BY-SA).
From the newspapers
1936 · Imperial Valley press, Sep 27, 1936
1940 · The Daily Alaska empire, Juneau, Alaska, Sep 30, 1940
1941 · The Daily Alaska empire, Sep 29, 1941
1948 · Roanoke Rapids daily herald, North Carolina, Sep 26, 1948
1950 · Evening star, District of Columbia, Oct 1, 1950
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 | 1.2 million viewers |
Viewers: Nielsen, as compiled by nschultz7’s ratings tracker.
Every game
| Sep 26, 2026 | Minnesota 27, Washington 24 | at Washington | ||
| Oct 1, 1977 | Minnesota 19, Washington 17 | at Minnesota | ||
| Oct 2, 1976 | Washington 38, Minnesota 7 | at Washington | ||
| Jan 2, 1961 | 4Washington 17, 1Minnesota 7 | Neutral site | Rose Bowl | |
| Sep 27, 1958 | Washington 24, Minnesota 21 | at Washington | ||
| Sep 28, 1957 | 6Minnesota 46, Washington 7 | at Minnesota | ||
| Sep 29, 1956 | Minnesota 34, Washington 14 | at Washington | ||
| Sep 24, 1955 | Washington 30, Minnesota 0 | at Minnesota | ||
| Sep 27, 1952 | Washington 19, Minnesota 13 | at Washington | ||
| Sep 29, 1951 | 8Washington 25, Minnesota 20 | at Minnesota | ||
| Sep 30, 1950 | Washington 28, 18Minnesota 13 | at Washington | ||
| Sep 24, 1949 | Minnesota 48, Washington 20 | at Minnesota | ||
| Sep 25, 1948 | Minnesota 20, Washington 0 | at Washington | ||
| Sep 27, 1947 | Minnesota 7, Washington 6 | at Minnesota | ||
| Sep 27, 1941 | Minnesota 14, Washington 6 | at Washington | ||
| Sep 28, 1940 | Minnesota 19, Washington 14 | at Minnesota | ||
| Sep 24, 1938 | Minnesota 15, Washington 0 | at Minnesota | ||
| Sep 26, 1936 | Minnesota 14, Washington 7 | at Washington |
Every game is listed as played on the field.