Updated September 4, 2026. Series records through the 2025 season.
Nebraska’s rivalries are complicated by realignment. Its greatest one, Oklahoma, has been played twice since 2010. Its Big Eight and Big 12 neighbors, Kansas, Missouri, Kansas State, Iowa State and Colorado, are gone from the schedule. What is left in the Big Ten is Iowa, the only permanent conference opponent, plus trophy games with Minnesota and Wisconsin that mean more in Lincoln than they did a decade ago.
Series Records at a Glance
| Rival | Nebraska record | Trophy | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oklahoma | 38-47-3 | None | Home and home, Sept. 15, 2029 in Norman and 2030 in Lincoln |
| Iowa | 30-23-3 | Heroes Trophy (since 2011) | Annual, Black Friday; Nov. 27, 2026 in Iowa City |
| Colorado | 50-21-2 | None (Mr. Chip bison head, lost in the 1950s) | No games scheduled |
| Kansas | 91-23-3 | None | Ended 2010 |
| Missouri | 65-36-3 | Victory Bell (since 1927), held by Nebraska | Ended 2010 |
| Iowa State | 85-18-2 | None | Ended 2010 |
| Kansas State | 78-15-2 | None | Ended 2010 |
| Miami | 6-6 | None | No games scheduled |
| Minnesota | 25-38-2 | $5 Bits of Broken Chair Trophy (unofficial) | Next in 2027 |
| Wisconsin | 5-13 | Freedom Trophy (since 2014), held by Nebraska | Next in 2027 |
Oklahoma: The Big One
Nebraska and Oklahoma met every Thanksgiving weekend for most of 90 years as conference rivals, and between them won at least a share of 71 of 89 MVIAA and Big Eight titles. Memorial Stadium opened in 1923 with a 24 to 0 win over the Sooners. Bud Wilkinson beat Nebraska 16 straight times before a 1959 upset that also ended OU’s 74 game conference winning streak. The 1963 game was nearly cancelled after the Kennedy assassination the day before.
The 1971 Game of the Century, No. 1 Nebraska 35, No. 2 Oklahoma 31 in Norman, drew 55 million viewers and is still the consensus greatest college game ever played. Barry Switzer beat Tom Osborne in eight of their first nine meetings and coined “Sooner Magic” for it; Nebraska won seven straight after Switzer resigned in 1989. The 2001 meeting was the first regular season No. 1 versus No. 2 game of the BCS era, won 20 to 10 by Nebraska on Eric Crouch’s Black 41 Flash Reverse touchdown catch. The Big 12 split them into divisions in 1996 and the series has been played twice since Nebraska left in 2010, both Oklahoma wins in 2021 and 2022. Oklahoma leads 47 to 38 and 3. The next game is September 15, 2029 in Norman with a return trip to Lincoln in 2030.
Colorado
Bill McCartney declared Nebraska his primary rival in 1982, when Colorado was one of the worst programs in the country, and was mocked for it. He then beat Nebraska in 1986, 1989 and 1990 and took the Big Eight from Nebraska and Oklahoma for the first time since World War II. Colorado became Nebraska’s Thanksgiving opponent when the Big 12 formed. Nebraska won nine straight in the 1990s, including the 1994 win over No. 2 Colorado, before the 62 to 36 loss in Boulder in 2001 that produced one of the first BCS controversies. The teams have played four times since leaving the Big 12, most recently Colorado’s 2024 win in Boulder. Nebraska leads 50-21-2. Nothing is scheduled.
Iowa and the Heroes Trophy
Iowa was Nebraska’s first out of state opponent in 1891 and the two played regularly until after World War II. The rivalry was revived when Nebraska joined the Big Ten in 2011, with the Heroes Trophy awarded each Black Friday. It has not gone well: Nebraska is 4 and 11 since 2011 and has lost 10 of the last 11, several of them by a field goal, including the 2025 game in Lincoln. With the Big Ten’s 2024 realignment, Iowa is Nebraska’s only protected annual opponent. Nebraska still leads the all time series 30-23-3.
Miami: Six Bowls, One Two Point Conversion
The teams have met 12 times and split them, but six were in bowls. Nebraska’s first ever bowl win was the 1962 Gotham Bowl over Miami. The 1984 Orange Bowl, when Osborne went for two and lost 31 to 30, gave Miami its first national title and remains one of the great games in the sport’s history. Miami routed Nebraska in the 1989 and 1992 Orange Bowls, Nebraska won its first Osborne title on Miami’s home field in the 1995 Orange Bowl, and Miami won the 2002 Rose Bowl BCS title game 37 to 14. The series is 6-6 with no future games.
The Old Big Eight
Kansas. The teams played every year from 1906 to 2010, once the longest uninterrupted series in Division I, and Nebraska’s 36 straight wins from 1969 to 2004 are the second longest streak over one opponent in college football history. Nebraska leads 91-23-3.
Missouri. The series began in 1892 with a Missouri forfeit rather than play against George Flippin, a Black player on Nebraska’s team. The Victory Bell, stolen from a church in Seward in 1892, has gone to the winner since 1927 and sits in Lincoln after the final meeting in 2010. Missouri’s 1962 win was the first game of the sellout streak, and the 1997 Flea Kicker game is the most famous. Nebraska leads 65-36-3.
Kansas State. The nearest cross border rival, 135 miles apart. Nebraska won 29 straight until Bill Snyder’s No. 2 Wildcats broke through 40 to 30 in 1998, Frank Solich’s first season. The 1992 game was played in Tokyo. Nebraska leads 78-15-2.
Iowa State. Played uninterrupted from 1926 to 2010, ending with a 31 to 30 overtime Nebraska win in Ames. Nebraska leads 85-18-2.
The Big Ten Trophies
Wisconsin and the Freedom Trophy. Wisconsin has won 10 of 12 conference meetings including the 70 to 31 rout in the 2012 Big Ten Championship Game. Nebraska won the 2024 game in Lincoln and holds the Freedom Trophy, introduced in 2014. The teams do not play in 2026.
Minnesota and the Broken Chair. Nebraska won 16 straight in the Devaney and Osborne years, including an 84 to 13 win in Minneapolis in 1983, but Minnesota leads the all time series 38-25-2 and has owned it lately. The $5 Bits of Broken Chair Trophy started as a 2014 social media joke between the Goldy Gopher and Faux Pelini accounts and survives as a fan run charity fundraiser without official sanction. The teams do not play in 2026.
Related Reading
Bowl history has every Miami and Oklahoma bowl game. The 2026 schedule shows the Iowa trip on November 27. Rivalry pages for the other side: Oklahoma vs. Texas and Penn State vs. Ohio State.