Rivalry leaderboard
Illinois-Northwestern Greatest Games
The series' top 25 meetings, ranked without team allegiance by game-time AP strength, final-score closeness, and overtime.
- Games
- 25
- Top score
- 50/100
- Overtime
- 1
Series context
- Completed meetings
- 118
- Series record
- Illinois 58-55-5 Northwestern
- Tracked years
- 1892-2024
- Trophy
- Land of Lincoln Trophy
Series ranking
The rivalry's top 25 games
10 of these games include at least one AP-ranked team at kickoff. Open a supported game for its box score and statistics.
- 1995Week 10
Northwestern at Illinois
Northwestern 17, Illinois 14
Winner: Northwestern
No. 8 Northwestern vs. Unranked Illinois · 3-point margin
Ranking 18/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15
50
Game score
- 1996Week 10
Illinois at Northwestern
Illinois 24, Northwestern 27
Winner: Northwestern
Unranked Illinois vs. No. 11 Northwestern · 3-point margin
Ranking 15/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15
47
Game score
- 2001Week 14
Northwestern at Illinois
Northwestern 28, Illinois 34
Winner: Illinois
Unranked Northwestern vs. No. 10 Illinois · 6-point margin
Ranking 16/50 · Closeness 29/35 · Overtime 0/15
45
Game score
- 1936Week 6
Northwestern at Illinois
Northwestern 13, Illinois 2
Winner: Northwestern
No. 7 Northwestern vs. Unranked Illinois · 11-point margin
Ranking 19/50 · Closeness 24/35 · Overtime 0/15
43
Game score
- 1990Week 14
Northwestern at Illinois
Northwestern 23, Illinois 28
Winner: Illinois
Unranked Northwestern vs. No. 16 Illinois · 5-point margin
Ranking 10/50 · Closeness 30/35 · Overtime 0/15
40
Game score
- 1991Week 9
Illinois at Northwestern
Illinois 11, Northwestern 17
Winner: Northwestern
No. 17 Illinois vs. Unranked Northwestern · 6-point margin
Ranking 9/50 · Closeness 29/35 · Overtime 0/15
38
Game score
- 2004Week 131OT
Illinois at Northwestern
Illinois 21, Northwestern 28
Winner: Northwestern
Unranked Illinois vs. Unranked Northwestern · 7-point margin
Ranking 0/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 9/15
37
Game score
- 1978Week 2
Illinois at Northwestern
Illinois 0, Northwestern 0
Result: Tie
Unranked Illinois vs. Unranked Northwestern · 0-point margin
Ranking 0/50 · Closeness 35/35 · Overtime 0/15
35
Game score
- 1955Week 10
Northwestern at Illinois
Northwestern 7, Illinois 7
Result: Tie
Unranked Northwestern vs. Unranked Illinois · 0-point margin
Ranking 0/50 · Closeness 35/35 · Overtime 0/15
35
Game score
- 1900Week 6
Northwestern at Illinois
Northwestern 0, Illinois 0
Result: Tie
Unranked Northwestern vs. Unranked Illinois · 0-point margin
Ranking 0/50 · Closeness 35/35 · Overtime 0/15
35
Game score
- 1893Week 4
Northwestern at Illinois
Northwestern 0, Illinois 0
Result: Tie
Unranked Northwestern vs. Unranked Illinois · 0-point margin
Ranking 0/50 · Closeness 35/35 · Overtime 0/15
35
Game score
- 1892Week 4
Illinois at Northwestern
Illinois 16, Northwestern 16
Result: Tie
Unranked Illinois vs. Unranked Northwestern · 0-point margin
Ranking 0/50 · Closeness 35/35 · Overtime 0/15
35
Game score
- 1992Week 9
Northwestern at Illinois
Northwestern 27, Illinois 26
Winner: Northwestern
Unranked Northwestern vs. Unranked Illinois · 1-point margin
Ranking 0/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15
34
Game score
- 1963Week 4
Northwestern at Illinois
Northwestern 9, Illinois 10
Winner: Illinois
Unranked Northwestern vs. Unranked Illinois · 1-point margin
Ranking 0/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15
34
Game score
- 1956Week 11
Illinois at Northwestern
Illinois 13, Northwestern 14
Winner: Northwestern
Unranked Illinois vs. Unranked Northwestern · 1-point margin
Ranking 0/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15
34
Game score
- 1927Week 6
Illinois at Northwestern
Illinois 7, Northwestern 6
Winner: Illinois
Unranked Illinois vs. Unranked Northwestern · 1-point margin
Ranking 0/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15
34
Game score
- 1903Week 8
Northwestern at Illinois
Northwestern 12, Illinois 11
Winner: Northwestern
Unranked Northwestern vs. Unranked Illinois · 1-point margin
Ranking 0/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15
34
Game score
- 1938Week 6
Northwestern at Illinois
Northwestern 13, Illinois 0
Winner: Northwestern
No. 15 Northwestern vs. Unranked Illinois · 13-point margin
Ranking 11/50 · Closeness 22/35 · Overtime 0/15
33
Game score
- 1952Week 11
Northwestern at Illinois
Northwestern 28, Illinois 26
Winner: Northwestern
Unranked Northwestern vs. Unranked Illinois · 2-point margin
Ranking 0/50 · Closeness 33/35 · Overtime 0/15
33
Game score
- 1949Week 11
Northwestern at Illinois
Northwestern 9, Illinois 7
Winner: Northwestern
Unranked Northwestern vs. Unranked Illinois · 2-point margin
Ranking 0/50 · Closeness 33/35 · Overtime 0/15
33
Game score
Methodology
How each game earns up to 100 points
AP ranking, 50 points: each team earns 26 minus its game-time AP rank. Unranked teams receive zero.
Closeness, 35 points: the final margin is subtracted from 35, with margins of 35 or more receiving zero.
Overtime, 15 points: overtime starts at nine points and rises by two per additional period, capped at 15.
Regular-season rankings use the AP Top 25 recorded for the game's week. Postseason meetings use the final regular-season AP poll before bowl and playoff results. Games before 2005 remain in the ranking but do not link to unsupported box-score pages. Videos are matched by canonical game ID or by a rematch-safe season matchup.