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Northwestern Wildcats

Big TenEvanston, ILLanny and Sharon Martin Stadium

2026: 5–⁠1 (2–⁠1 Big Ten), No. 24 in the AP poll. Last: won at Michigan State 24–⁠21. Next: Rutgers, Saturday, Oct 24, noon ET.

  1. W 34–⁠18South Dakota State
  2. W 41–⁠7Colorado
  3. L 23–⁠29at No. 5 Indiana
  4. W 34–⁠13Penn State
  5. W 45–⁠14Ball State
  6. W 24–⁠21at Michigan State
  7. Oct 24Rutgers
  8. Oct 31at Oregon
  9. Nov 7Iowa
  10. Nov 14at Ohio State
  11. Nov 21at Minnesota
  12. Nov 28Illinois
  • No. 2 oldest program
  • Outfitted by Under Armour
  • Sudler Trophy, 1992

Northwestern has played football since 1876 and is 573–⁠710–⁠40 in the 1,323 games on record here, which start in 1892. Their best finish in the final AP poll is No. 7, in 1948. They have won eight Big Ten Conference titles (the last in 2000), counting shared titles. Since 1936, the NFL Draft has taken 96 players from here in its first seven rounds, 11 of them in the first round. The AAFC and AFL drafts also took seven players from here. The College Football Hall of Fame holds 11 players and 3 coaches from Northwestern. Pat Fitzgerald (2006–⁠2022) won more games here than any other coach: 110. The most-played rival is Illinois: 119 meetings, Illinois leads 59–⁠55–⁠5. This season, under David Braun, they’re 5–⁠1.

Lanny and Sharon Martin Stadium in Evanston
Lanny and Sharon Martin StadiumPhoto: SecretName101, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

On this date in 2002Northwestern lost to No. 20 Penn State 49–⁠0 on the road.

Résumé

All-time record
573–⁠713–⁠44 official; 573–⁠710–⁠40 on file; how we count
Postseason
8–⁠10 matches the official bowl record
AP No. 1 finishes
0
Weeks at No. 1
5 of 172 ranked
Elo now
1602 30th of 138 FBS
Computer rankings
Massey No. 26 · Composite No. 24 in FBS, Oct 17; up 1 since Oct 11. From Massey Ratings
Best season by Elo
1931 rated 1674
Conference titles
8 last in 2000
Seasons
133 since 1892, 1,323 games

Identity

Fight song
Go U Northwestern
Student section
Wildcat Wall

2026 season 5–⁠1

RosterFull 2026 season
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5vsSouth Dakota StateW 34–⁠1871%
Sep 19vsColoradoW 41–⁠766%
Sep 25at5IndianaL 23–⁠2917%
Oct 2vsPenn StateW 34–⁠1344%
Oct 10vsBall StateW 45–⁠1485%
Oct 17atMichigan StateW 24–⁠2165%
Oct 24vsRutgersPreview77%
Oct 31atOregonPreview29%
Nov 7vsIowaPreview48%
Nov 14atOhio StatePreview19%
Nov 21atMinnesotaPreview53%
Nov 28vsIllinoisPreview67%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

This season, game by game

Northwestern’s Elo through 2026: 1515 going into the opener, 1602 after the latest game; AP rank from No. 25 to unranked.15001525155015751600Elo 1515 going in; beat South Dakota State 34–18Elo 1531 going in; beat Colorado 41–7Elo 1554 going in; lost to Indiana 29–23Elo 1548 going in; beat Penn State 34–13Elo 1583 going in; beat Ball State 45–14Elo 1592 going in; beat Michigan State 24–21; AP No. 25Now: Elo 1602 after the latest game1602
·····25·
South Dakota StateColoradoIndianaPenn StateBall StateMichigan StateNow
Elo going into each game, then after the latest. Filled dots: wins; open: losses. Dashed line: 1500, an average FBS team. Numbers under the line: the AP rank going into each game, and in the newest poll (a dot: unranked).

Future schedule

2027–⁠31
20273 games: 2 home, 1 away, non-conference only
20281 game: 1 home, non-conference only
20291 game: 1 away, non-conference only
20301 game: 1 home, non-conference only
20313 games: 2 home, 1 away, non-conference only

Northwestern’s announced games beyond the seasons on our schedule, as its Wikipedia article lists them (announced schedules as of August 7, 2025). Schedules change; a season shows only the games named so far, and many articles list non-conference games only. Future schedules: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).

Players

The 2026 rosterRecord bookThe money

On the 2026 team

Program greats See all

Heisman finalists, College Football Hall of Famers, consensus All-Americans, national award winners and first-round picks, for what they did at Northwestern.

Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.

Around the program

Apparel
Under Armour · Official source
Mascot
Willie the Wildcat · Official source
Student section
Wildcat Wall · Sources disagree 2 sources give Wildcat Wall; others give Wildside (1 source). Chosen by count of sources, then the newest, for this season; needs a reviewer.
Offensive coordinator
Chip Kelly · Official source
Defensive coordinator
Tim McGarigle · Official source
NIL collective
TrueNU · Official source

Found by several AI researchers searching the web, then kept only where the page loads and says so in words naming the program; every quote is checked again each time the data is rebuilt. Official source: the school’s own page. All of them.

The apparel deal

Under Armour, from 2012. Multiyear partnership, extended in March 2025. Under Armour has outfitted Northwestern since 2012. Extended in March 2025.

Apparel deals: Field Drip. Terms as the outlets reported them; checked Oct 3, 2026.

Program strength since 1892

Best seasons ever
Northwestern end-of-season Elo from 1892 to 2026, best in 1931 at 1674.130015001700190019001920194019601980200020201931 peak: Elo 1674
End-of-season Elo. Dashed line: 1500, an average FBS team.

On Bluesky

From reporters and writers who cover college football, linked to their posts on Bluesky.

More coverage

Found through the GDELT Project, which indexes news sites worldwide. Each link opens the story on the outlet’s own site; each picture is that outlet’s own preview of its story, shown from its site and credited to it.

Podcasts

Found through Podcast Index, the open podcast directory. Each link opens the episode’s page.

Head coaches

CoachYearsRecord
David Braun2023–⁠202624–⁠20
Pat Fitzgerald2006–⁠2022110–⁠101
Randy Walker1999–⁠200537–⁠46
Gary Barnett1992–⁠199835–⁠45–⁠1
Francis Peay1986–⁠199113–⁠51–⁠2
Dennis Green1981–⁠198510–⁠45
Rick Venturi1978–⁠19801–⁠31–⁠1
John Pont1973–⁠197712–⁠43
Alex Agase1964–⁠197232–⁠58–⁠1
Ara Parseghian1956–⁠196336–⁠35–⁠1
Lou Saban19550–⁠8–⁠1
Robert Voigts1947–⁠195433–⁠39–⁠1
Pappy Waldorf1935–⁠194649–⁠45–⁠7
Dick Hanley1927–⁠193436–⁠26–⁠4
Glenn Thistlethwaite1922–⁠192621–⁠17–⁠1
Elmer McDevitt1920–⁠19214–⁠10
Charlie Bachman19192–⁠5
Fred Murphy1914–⁠191816–⁠16–⁠1
Dennis Grady19131–⁠6
Charles Hammett1910–⁠19126–⁠10–⁠2
Bill Horr19091–⁠3–⁠1
Alton Johnson19082–⁠2
Walter McCornack1903–⁠190526–⁠5–⁠4
Charles Hollister1899–⁠190228–⁠16–⁠4
W.H. Bannard18989–⁠4–⁠1
Jesse Van Doozer18975–⁠3
Alvin Culver1895–⁠189612–⁠6–⁠2
A.A. Ewing18944–⁠5
Paul Noyes18932–⁠5–⁠3
Knowlton Ames18926–⁠4–⁠2

Most-played series

All rivalries
OpponentGamesNU record
Illinois11955–⁠59–⁠5
Wisconsin10337–⁠62–⁠4
Minnesota9938–⁠56–⁠5
Purdue9036–⁠53–⁠1
Iowa8628–⁠55–⁠3
Indiana8547–⁠37–⁠1
Ohio State8114–⁠66–⁠1
Michigan7815–⁠61–⁠2

Rivals the program names: Illinois, Michigan, Notre Dame, Chicago.

Every opponent (136)

Every program Northwestern has played, A to Z, with Northwestern’s record against it. Each links to the series, game by game.

Official records. † Without wins the NCAA vacated, or with forfeits counted. ‡ The rivalry’s own count, where it differs from the games on file.

Conference titles

8, counting shared titles
Big Ten Conference 8
1903 (shared), 1926 (shared), 1930 (shared), 1931 (shared), 1936, 1995, 1996 (shared), 2000 (shared)
Big Ten West 2
2018, 2020

As the program counts them in its Wikipedia article, shared titles included, and listed under each conference’s current name (a Western Conference title of the 1900s counts as a Big Ten title); season pages use the name the conference had that year. A title the article files under a conference the team wasn’t in that season is listed under the one it was. Division titles include years the team tied for its division.

Conferences

  1. Independent 1882–⁠1891
  2. Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the Northwest 1892–⁠1893
  3. Independent 1894–⁠1895
  4. Western Conference 1896–⁠1952
  5. Big Ten since 1953

Northwestern’s football conferences by season, from CollegeFootballData.com’s memberships (renamed conferences keep the name of the time).

National award winners

All awards
2020Pat Fitzgerald coachBobby Dodd Award
1996Pat Fitzgerald LBNagurski, Bednarik
1995Pat Fitzgerald LBNagurski, Bednarik
1995Gary Barnett coachEddie Robinson, Walter Camp Coach, Bear Bryant Award, Bobby Dodd Award
1970Alex Agase coachEddie Robinson

Consensus All-Americans 15

2022Peter Skoronski OL
2020Brandon Joseph DB
2000Damien Anderson RB
1996Pat Fitzgerald LB
1995Pat Fitzgerald LB
1962Jack Cvercko OG
1959Ron Burton RB
1945Max Morris E
1940Alf Bauman OT
1936Steve Reid OG
1931Dallas Marvil OT
1931Ernie Rentner RB
1931Jack Riley OT
1930Frank Baker E
1926Ralph Baker RB

Led the nation 3

1992Lee Gissendaner punt return average (21.8)
1968Mike Adamle kickoff return yards (732 yds)
1943Otto Graham punt return average (18.4)

The NCAA’s official national leaders since 1937, from Wikipedia’s yearly leader lists.

Heisman runners-up and finalists

The votes
2000Damien Anderson RB5th
1995Darnell Autry RB4th
1943Otto Graham RB3rd

Second to fifth in the vote, from each season’s Wikipedia article.

In the Hall of Fame

Every inductee
Players
11
Coaches
3
2008Pat Fitzgerald LB
1998Alex Sarkisian C/LB
1990Ron Burton RB
1989Edgar Manske E
1988Jack Riley OT
1985Steve Reid OG
1981Ralph Baker RB
1980Ara Parseghian coach here, 1956–⁠1963
1979Ernie Rentner RB
1978Charlie Bachman coach here, 1919
1974Paddy Driscoll QB
1969James Johnson QB
1966Pappy Waldorf coach here, 1935–⁠1946
1956Otto Graham RB

In the draft

By college
NFL picks, rounds 1–⁠7
96 since 1936
First-round picks
11
AAFC and AFL picks
7 1947–⁠49, 1961–⁠63
2023Peter Skoronski OTNo. 11, Tennessee Titans
2021Rashawn Slater OTNo. 13, Los Angeles Chargers
2021Greg Newsome II CBNo. 26, Cleveland Browns
2005Luis Castillo DTNo. 28, San Diego Chargers
2002Napoleon Harris LBNo. 23, Oakland Raiders
1983Chris Hinton OGNo. 4, Denver Broncos
1967Casimir Banaszek TENo. 11, San Francisco 49ers
1962Fate Echols OTNo. 6, St. Louis Cardinals

Who came and went in the 2026 transfer portal, and every portal year.

The school

Northwestern University
Enrollment
23,856 9,399 undergraduates, fall 2024
Where
Evanston, Illinois
Public or private
Private nonprofit; Research 1
Founded
1851
Graduates’ median earnings
$89,363 10 years after starting

Enrollment, place and Carnegie research tier from the National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS, public domain). Earnings from the US Department of Education’s College Scorecard (CC BY 4.0): the median for students who received federal aid and were working, not in school. Founding year from Wikidata. Every school’s in the data.

Official accounts

Football
X @NUfbfamilyInstagram @nufootballFacebook nufootball
Athletics department
X @NU_SportsInstagram @NU_SportsYouTube user/NUAthleticsFacebook NorthwesternAthletics

Official accounts: the schools’ athletics websites: the ones nusports.com lists for its football program and athletics department, as of Oct 12, 2026.

On the newsreel

And 32 more

Universal Newsreel, National Archives (catalog record). Story titles and words as Universal’s release sheet gives them; the films themselves may still be under copyright, so we link to the record rather than show them.

Books

Books: Open Library (CC0), filed under the program’s Library of Congress subject heading; most-reissued first, each linked to its page there.

Season by season

National champions
SeasonRecordConf.AP preAP finalCoachEloSP+
20265–⁠12–⁠1David Braun160215.6
20257–⁠64–⁠5David Braun15235.8
20244–⁠82–⁠7David Braun1469-8.2
20238–⁠55–⁠4David Braun1517-1.3
20221–⁠111–⁠8Pat Fitzgerald1301-13.4
20213–⁠91–⁠8Pat Fitzgerald1399-11.1
20207–⁠26–⁠110Pat Fitzgerald16059.0
20193–⁠91–⁠8Pat Fitzgerald1487-5.5
20189–⁠58–⁠121Pat Fitzgerald16571.9
201710–⁠37–⁠217Pat Fitzgerald166411.2
20167–⁠65–⁠4Pat Fitzgerald16022.9
201510–⁠36–⁠223Pat Fitzgerald15810.2
20145–⁠73–⁠5Pat Fitzgerald14841.5
20135–⁠71–⁠722Pat Fitzgerald15104.2
201210–⁠35–⁠317Pat Fitzgerald16207.2
20116–⁠73–⁠5Pat Fitzgerald14920.6
20107–⁠63–⁠5Pat Fitzgerald1501-1.1
20098–⁠55–⁠3Pat Fitzgerald1551-4.0
20089–⁠45–⁠3Pat Fitzgerald15707.3
20076–⁠63–⁠5Pat Fitzgerald1454-2.4
20064–⁠82–⁠6Pat Fitzgerald1473-4.9
20057–⁠55–⁠3Randy Walker15338.0
20046–⁠65–⁠3Randy Walker14983.9
20036–⁠74–⁠4Randy Walker14642.8
20023–⁠91–⁠7Randy Walker1352-11.5
Every season back to 1892 (108 more)
SeasonRecordConf.AP preAP finalCoachEloSP+
20014–⁠72–⁠616Randy Walker1429-1.7
20008–⁠46–⁠2Randy Walker154113.7
19993–⁠81–⁠7Randy Walker1359-8.0
19983–⁠90–⁠8Gary Barnett1406-9.0
19975–⁠73–⁠5Gary Barnett15353.1
19969–⁠37–⁠11815Gary Barnett16588.2
199510–⁠28–⁠08Gary Barnett164124.7
19943–⁠7–⁠12–⁠6Gary Barnett1371-1.4
19932–⁠90–⁠8Gary Barnett1335-6.7
19923–⁠83–⁠5Gary Barnett1358-6.3
19913–⁠82–⁠6Francis Peay1331-13.8
19902–⁠91–⁠7Francis Peay1278-15.8
19890–⁠110–⁠8Francis Peay1252-23.5
19882–⁠8–⁠12–⁠5–⁠1Francis Peay1357-15.3
19872–⁠8–⁠12–⁠6Francis Peay1358-13.0
19864–⁠72–⁠6Francis Peay1389-11.5
19853–⁠81–⁠7Dennis Green1315-16.1
19842–⁠92–⁠7Dennis Green1289-14.8
19832–⁠92–⁠7Dennis Green1286-21.8
19823–⁠82–⁠7Dennis Green1308-14.3
19810–⁠110–⁠9Dennis Green1181-28.8
19800–⁠110–⁠9Rick Venturi1187-25.5
19791–⁠100–⁠9Rick Venturi1200-19.6
19780–⁠10–⁠10–⁠8–⁠1Rick Venturi1236-28.2
19771–⁠101–⁠8John Pont1284-16.2
19761–⁠101–⁠7John Pont1311-15.8
19753–⁠82–⁠6John Pont1339-15.3
19743–⁠82–⁠6John Pont1342-19.6
19734–⁠74–⁠4John Pont1371-4.9
19722–⁠91–⁠8Alex Agase1364-13.0
19717–⁠46–⁠320Alex Agase15808.1
19706–⁠46–⁠1Alex Agase152511.9
19693–⁠73–⁠4Alex Agase1337
19681–⁠91–⁠6Alex Agase1302
19673–⁠72–⁠5Alex Agase1402
19663–⁠6–⁠12–⁠4–⁠1Alex Agase1462
19654–⁠63–⁠4Alex Agase1478
19643–⁠62–⁠5Alex Agase1489
19635–⁠43–⁠46Ara Parseghian1594
19627–⁠24–⁠2Ara Parseghian1610
19614–⁠52–⁠4Ara Parseghian1512
19605–⁠43–⁠414Ara Parseghian1584
19596–⁠34–⁠310Ara Parseghian1564
19585–⁠43–⁠4Ara Parseghian1483
19570–⁠90–⁠7Ara Parseghian1323
19564–⁠4–⁠13–⁠3–⁠1Ara Parseghian1435
19550–⁠8–⁠10–⁠6–⁠1Lou Saban1318
19542–⁠71–⁠5Robert Voigts1413
19533–⁠60–⁠6Robert Voigts1401
19522–⁠6–⁠12–⁠5Robert Voigts1424
19515–⁠42–⁠4Robert Voigts1529
19506–⁠33–⁠3Robert Voigts1570
19494–⁠53–⁠420Robert Voigts1516
19488–⁠25–⁠137Robert Voigts1634
19473–⁠62–⁠4Robert Voigts1470
19464–⁠4–⁠12–⁠3–⁠110Pappy Waldorf1502
19454–⁠4–⁠13–⁠3–⁠1Pappy Waldorf1505
19441–⁠7–⁠10–⁠5–⁠1Pappy Waldorf1421
19436–⁠25–⁠1199Pappy Waldorf1590
19421–⁠90–⁠6Pappy Waldorf1431
19415–⁠34–⁠2511Pappy Waldorf1625
19406–⁠24–⁠248Pappy Waldorf1628
19393–⁠4–⁠13–⁠2–⁠1Pappy Waldorf1530
19384–⁠2–⁠22–⁠1–⁠21817Pappy Waldorf1572
19374–⁠43–⁠37Pappy Waldorf1545
19367–⁠16–⁠047Pappy Waldorf1594
19354–⁠3–⁠12–⁠3–⁠1Pappy Waldorf1515
19343–⁠52–⁠3Dick Hanley1443
19331–⁠5–⁠21–⁠4–⁠1Dick Hanley1462
19323–⁠4–⁠12–⁠3–⁠1Dick Hanley1557
19317–⁠1–⁠15–⁠1Dick Hanley1674
19307–⁠15–⁠0Dick Hanley1657
19296–⁠33–⁠2Dick Hanley1533
19285–⁠32–⁠3Dick Hanley1524
19274–⁠42–⁠3Dick Hanley1520
19267–⁠15–⁠0Glenn Thistlethwaite1584
19255–⁠33–⁠1Glenn Thistlethwaite1466
19244–⁠41–⁠3Glenn Thistlethwaite1418
19232–⁠60–⁠6Glenn Thistlethwaite1379
19223–⁠3–⁠11–⁠3–⁠1Glenn Thistlethwaite1414
19211–⁠60–⁠5Elmer McDevitt1347
19203–⁠42–⁠3Elmer McDevitt1434
19192–⁠51–⁠4Charlie Bachman1400
19182–⁠2–⁠11–⁠1Fred Murphy1469
19175–⁠23–⁠2Fred Murphy1549
19166–⁠14–⁠1Fred Murphy1497
19152–⁠50–⁠5Fred Murphy1317
19141–⁠60–⁠6Fred Murphy1266
19131–⁠60–⁠6Dennis Grady1295
19122–⁠3–⁠12–⁠3Charles Hammett1433
19113–⁠41–⁠4Charles Hammett1410
19101–⁠3–⁠11–⁠2–⁠1Charles Hammett1420
19091–⁠3–⁠11–⁠3Bill Horr1438
1908few games on file2–⁠20–⁠2Alton Johnson1489
19058–⁠2–⁠10–⁠2Walter McCornack1537
19048–⁠21–⁠2Walter McCornack1557
190310–⁠1–⁠31–⁠0–⁠2Walter McCornack1529
19026–⁠60–⁠4Charles Hollister1416
19018–⁠2–⁠13–⁠2Charles Hollister1524
19007–⁠2–⁠32–⁠1–⁠2Charles Hollister1491
18997–⁠62–⁠2Charles Hollister1435
18989–⁠4–⁠10–⁠4W.H. Bannard1428
18975–⁠30–⁠2Jesse Van Doozer1442
18966–⁠1–⁠21–⁠0–⁠1Alvin Culver1483
18956–⁠5Alvin Culver1400
18944–⁠5A.A. Ewing1265
18932–⁠5–⁠30–⁠2Paul Noyes1331
18926–⁠4–⁠21–⁠3Knowlton Ames1422

Officially 573–⁠713–⁠44 since 1876 (per Wikipedia, checked Sep 26, 2025); game by game here, 573–⁠710–⁠40 (−3 losses, −4 ties). Our file starts in 1892; the program began in 1876. Some games are missing from our source.

No season on file for 1906–⁠07: the program may not have played, or our source may be missing them.

Records are computed from every game on file at CollegeFootballData.com, whose coverage of the earliest seasons can be incomplete. Elo is this site’s own rating; see how it works on the records page.