Nebraska–Oklahoma football rivalry

The Nebraska–Oklahoma football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Nebraska Cornhuskers football team of the University of Nebraska and Oklahoma Sooners football team of the University of Oklahoma. The rivalry continued in the Big 12 Conference until 2010, though the rivalry was more prominent when both teams were members of the former Big Eight Conference before 1996. The annual series effectively ended when Oklahoma was lined up in the Southern division of the newly formed Big 12 to maintain its rivalry with Texas and also its recruiting hotbeds in Texas.^[2][3][4] As both teams won their respective divisions in 2010, they met in the 2010 Big 12 Championship Game. Following the 2010 season, Nebraska left the Big 12 for the Big Ten Conference. As a result, the 2009 meeting turned out to be the last regular-season scheduled meeting. Nebraska's departure left the future of the rivalry in doubt. The two teams agreed to play a home-and-home non-conference series scheduled for 2021 in Norman (to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1971 classic) and 2022 in Lincoln. Additional games have also been scheduled for 2029 and 2030.^[5]

Nebraska–Oklahoma football rivalry

Nebraska Cornhuskers Oklahoma Sooners
First meeting	November 23, 1912 Nebraska 13, Oklahoma 9
Latest meeting	September 17, 2022 Oklahoma 49, Nebraska 14
Next meeting	September 15, 2029 (Norman, OK)
Statistics
Meetings total	88
All-time series	Oklahoma leads, 47–38–3^[1]
Largest victory	Nebraska, 69–7 (1997)
Longest win streak	Oklahoma, 16 (1943–1958)
Current win streak	Oklahoma, 3 (2010–present)

[Interactive fullscreen map]

Locations of Nebraska and Oklahoma

The rivalry had been less intense since the 1996 forming of the Big 12 Conference. This was due to the split-division nature of the Big 12 that scheduled the Cornhuskers and Sooners to meet only twice every four years. Before the beginning of Big 12 play in 1996, the Cornhuskers and Sooners had met for 71 straight years.

The 1923 game, only the fifth time these teams met, was the first game played in Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.

These teams have been involved in several historic match-ups, such as the Game of the Century (November 25, 1971), where the teams came into the game ranked one and two in the Associated Press Poll, often making these games of great importance in deciding the national championship. Historically, the rivalry's most distinguishing quality had been the grudging respect and appreciation between the two tradition-rich programs. Also of note is the game's former status as the premier Thanksgiving Day game (or Friday) for the middle of the country.

Oklahoma gave Nebraska their only regular-season losses in 1964, 1966, 1975, 1979, and 1987, while Nebraska did the same to Oklahoma in 1971 and 1978, when they met twice; once in the regular season with a Nebraska home win (to stop a six-game Sooner streak),^[6][7] and at the Orange Bowl with an Oklahoma victory.^[8][9]

The 1959 meeting is often considered Nebraska’s biggest upset ever. On that Halloween day, the unranked Cornhuskers defeated No. 19 Oklahoma 25–21 in Lincoln, ending the Sooners' 74-game conference win streak and their 16-game win streak over Nebraska.^[10]

The 1963 matchup was almost canceled because of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy the day before, but ultimately both schools agreed to go ahead with the game. It was one of only five played that day (the others were Tulane-LSU, Texas Tech-Arkansas, Florida State-Auburn and Florida-Miami) as all others around the country were canceled.

Former Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini served as an assistant at Oklahoma in 2004.^[11]

End of the rivalry

When the Big 8 Conference merged with Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Texas, and Baylor to form the Big XII, Oklahoma sided with the majority of conference members and voted against having an annual division-crossover rivalry game. The new conference was split into divisions, with Nebraska in the North and Oklahoma in the south, where they would play one another twice every four years.

On June 11, 2010, the University of Nebraska announced that its regents had unanimously voted to end the university's affiliation with the Big 12 Conference, and would be joining the Big Ten Conference beginning with the 2011 season.^[2][3][4] The two teams met one final time in the 2010 Big 12 Championship Game before Nebraska joined the Big Ten, which Oklahoma won 23–20.^[12]

In 2016, the schools announced a home-and-home series for 2029 and 2030.^[5]

Game results

Nebraska victories

Oklahoma victories

Tie games

No. Date Location Winning team Losing team 1 November 23, 1912 Lincoln Nebraska 13 Oklahoma 9 2 October 25, 1919 Omaha Tie 7 Tie 7 3 October 29, 1921 Lincoln Nebraska 44 Oklahoma 0 4 October 28, 1922 Norman Nebraska 39 Oklahoma 7 5 October 13, 1923 Lincoln Nebraska 24 Oklahoma 0 6 October 11, 1924 Norman Oklahoma 14 Nebraska 7 7 October 31, 1925 Lincoln Nebraska 12 Oklahoma 0 8 November 10, 1928 Norman Nebraska 44 Oklahoma 6 9 November 16, 1929 Lincoln Tie 13 Tie 13 10 October 11, 1930 Norman Oklahoma 20 Nebraska 7 11 October 10, 1931 Lincoln Nebraska 13 Oklahoma 0 12 November 19, 1932 Norman Nebraska 5 Oklahoma 0 13 October 28, 1933 Lincoln Nebraska 16 Oklahoma 7 14 October 20, 1934 Norman Nebraska 6 Oklahoma 0 15 October 26, 1935 Lincoln Nebraska 19 Oklahoma 0 16 October 24, 1936 Norman No. 15 Nebraska 14 Oklahoma 0 17 October 16, 1937 Lincoln Tie 0 Tie 0 18 October 22, 1938 Norman No. 14 Oklahoma 14 Nebraska 0 19 November 25, 1939 Lincoln Nebraska 13 No. 14 Oklahoma 7 20 November 26, 1940 Norman No. 12 Nebraska 13 Oklahoma 0 21 November 29, 1941 Lincoln Nebraska 7 Oklahoma 6 22 October 24, 1942 Norman Nebraska 7 Oklahoma 0 23 November 27, 1943 Lincoln Oklahoma 26 Nebraska 7 24 December 2, 1944 Oklahoma City Oklahoma 31 Nebraska 12 25 September 29, 1945 Lincoln Oklahoma 20 Nebraska 0 26 November 23, 1946 Norman No. 18 Oklahoma 27 Nebraska 6 27 November 22, 1947 Lincoln Oklahoma 14 Nebraska 13 28 November 13, 1948 Norman No. 9 Oklahoma 41 Nebraska 14 29 October 22, 1949 Lincoln No. 4 Oklahoma 48 Nebraska 0 30 November 25, 1950 Norman No. 1 Oklahoma 49 No. 16 Nebraska 35 31 November 24, 1951 Lincoln No. 12 Oklahoma 27 Nebraska 0 32 November 22, 1952 Norman No. 5 Oklahoma 34 Nebraska 13 33 November 21, 1953 Lincoln No. 4 Oklahoma 30 Nebraska 7 34 November 20, 1954 Norman No. 3 Oklahoma 55 Nebraska 7 35 November 19, 1955 Lincoln No. 1 Oklahoma 41 Nebraska 0 36 November 24, 1956 Norman No. 1 Oklahoma 54 Nebraska 6 37 November 23, 1957 Lincoln No. 6 Oklahoma 32 Nebraska 7 38 November 22, 1958 Norman No. 4 Oklahoma 40 Nebraska 7 39 October 31, 1959 Lincoln Nebraska 25 No. 19 Oklahoma 21 40 November 19, 1960 Norman Nebraska 17 Oklahoma 14 41 November 25, 1961 Lincoln Oklahoma 21 Nebraska 14 42 November 24, 1962 Norman No. 10 Oklahoma 34 Nebraska 6 43 November 23, 1963 Lincoln No. 10 Nebraska 29 No. 6 Oklahoma 20 44 November 21, 1964 Norman Oklahoma 17 No. 4 Nebraska 7 45 November 25, 1965 Lincoln No. 3 Nebraska 21 Oklahoma 9 46 November 24, 1966 Norman Oklahoma 10 No. 4 Nebraska 9 No. Date Location Winning team Losing team 47 November 25, 1967 Lincoln No. 5 Oklahoma 21 Nebraska 14 48 November 23, 1968 Norman No. 14 Oklahoma 47 Nebraska 0 49 November 22, 1969 Norman No. 16 Nebraska 44 Oklahoma 14 50 November 21, 1970 Lincoln No. 3 Nebraska 28 Oklahoma 21 51 November 25, 1971 Norman No. 1 Nebraska 35 No. 2 Oklahoma 31 52 November 23, 1972 Lincoln No. 4 Oklahoma 17 No. 5 Nebraska 14 53 November 23, 1973 Norman No. 3 Oklahoma 27 No. 10 Nebraska 0 54 November 23, 1974 Lincoln No. 1 Oklahoma 28 No. 6 Nebraska 14 55 November 22, 1975 Norman No. 7 Oklahoma 35 No. 2 Nebraska 10 56 November 26, 1976 Lincoln No. 8 Oklahoma 20 No. 10 Nebraska 17 57 November 25, 1977 Norman No. 3 Oklahoma 38 No. 11 Nebraska 7 58 November 11, 1978 Lincoln No. 4 Nebraska 17 No. 1 Oklahoma 14 59 January 1, 1979 Miami No. 4 Oklahoma 31 No. 6 Nebraska 24 60 November 24, 1979 Norman No. 8 Oklahoma 17 No. 3 Nebraska 14 61 November 22, 1980 Lincoln No. 9 Oklahoma 21 No. 4 Nebraska 17 62 November 21, 1981 Norman No. 5 Nebraska 37 Oklahoma 14 63 November 26, 1982 Lincoln No. 3 Nebraska 28 No. 11 Oklahoma 24 64 November 26, 1983 Norman No. 1 Nebraska 28 Oklahoma 21 65 November 17, 1984 Lincoln No. 4 Oklahoma 17 No. 1 Nebraska 7 66 November 23, 1985 Norman No. 5 Oklahoma 27 No. 2 Nebraska 7 67 November 22, 1986 Lincoln No. 3 Oklahoma 20 No. 5 Nebraska 17 68 November 21, 1987 Lincoln No. 2 Oklahoma 17 No. 1 Nebraska 7 69 November 19, 1988 Norman No. 7 Nebraska 7 No. 9 Oklahoma 3 70 November 18, 1989 Lincoln No. 6 Nebraska 42 Oklahoma 25 71 November 23, 1990 Norman Oklahoma 45 No. 10 Nebraska 10 72 November 29, 1991 Lincoln No. 11 Nebraska 19 No. 19 Oklahoma 14 73 November 27, 1992 Norman No. 12 Nebraska 33 Oklahoma 9 74 November 26, 1993 Lincoln No. 2 Nebraska 21 No. 16 Oklahoma 7 75 November 25, 1994 Norman No. 1 Nebraska 13 Oklahoma 3 76 November 24, 1995 Lincoln No. 1 Nebraska 37 Oklahoma 0 77 November 2, 1996 Norman No. 5 Nebraska 73 Oklahoma 21 78 November 1, 1997 Lincoln No. 1 Nebraska 69 Oklahoma 7 79 October 28, 2000 Norman No. 3 Oklahoma 31 No. 1 Nebraska 14 80 October 27, 2001 Lincoln No. 3 Nebraska 20 No. 2 Oklahoma 10 81 November 13, 2004 Norman No. 2 Oklahoma 30 Nebraska 3 82 October 29, 2005 Lincoln Oklahoma 31 Nebraska 24 83 December 2, 2006 Kansas City No. 8 Oklahoma 21 No. 19 Nebraska 7 84 November 1, 2008 Norman No. 4 Oklahoma 62 Nebraska 28 85 November 7, 2009 Lincoln Nebraska 10 No. 20 Oklahoma 3 86 December 4, 2010 Arlington No. 9 Oklahoma 23 No. 13 Nebraska 20 87 September 18, 2021 Norman No. 3 Oklahoma 23 Nebraska 16 88 September 17, 2022 Lincoln No. 6 Oklahoma 49 Nebraska 14 89 September 15, 2029 Norman 90 September 14, 2030 Lincoln Series: Oklahoma leads 47–38–3^[1]

See also

• List of NCAA college football rivalry games

References

1. "Winsipedia - Nebraska Cornhuskers vs. Oklahoma Sooners football series history". Winsipedia.
2. . Lincoln Journal Star. Archived from the original on 2010-06-14. Retrieved 2010-06-11.
3. "Nebraska to the Big Ten". Omaha World-Herald. Archived from the original on 2010-06-14. Retrieved 2010-06-11.
4. "It's unanimous: Nebraska to the Big Ten". Lincoln Journal Star. Retrieved 2010-06-11.^{[permanent dead link]}
5. Staff, S. I. "Oklahoma, Nebraska to play in 2029, 2030". Sports Illustrated.
6. "Grid frustration ends in Huskers' triumph". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. November 12, 1978. p. C4.
7. Looney, Douglas S. (November 20, 1978). "Nebraska was on the loose". Sports Illustrated. p. 22.
8. "...But Oklahoma makes its case for No. 1, too". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. January 2, 1979. p. 29.
9. Putnam, Pat (January 8, 1979). "Orange Bowl". Sports Illustrated. p. 14.
10. "Huskers end Sooners' Big 8 string". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. November 1, 1959. p. 3, sports.
11. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-04-04. Retrieved 2009-05-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
12. . The Macon Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2010-12-05. Retrieved 2010-12-07.