The Iowa State–Nebraska football rivalry, occasionally referred to as the Big Red Rivalry, is an American
college football
College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...
rivalry game between the
Iowa State Cyclones
The Iowa State Cyclones are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Iowa State University, located in Ames. The university is a member of the Big 12 Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding 16 varsity teams (6 men's and 1 ...
and
Nebraska Cornhuskers
The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding t ...
.
History
Separated by 225 miles, the bordering state schools were members of the
Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association
The Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MVIAA) was a college athletic conference and the second college conference formed upon its foundation on January 12, 1907.David A. Campaigne and John R. Thelin, "Big Twelve Conference", ...
(MVIAA) from 1908 to 1927, the
Big Eight Conference
The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored American football, football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate ...
from 1928 to 1995 and the
Big 12 Conference
The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...
from 1996 to 2010. The teams met on the football field every year uninterrupted from 1926 to 2010.
Nebraska has dominated the rivalry, winning 85 of the 105 matchups, but Iowa State has pulled some notable victories throughout the history of the series. When Nebraska left the Big 12 in 2011 to join the
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...
, the annual rivalry between Iowa State and Nebraska was put on hiatus, and no games between the Cyclones and Cornhuskers have been scheduled since. Concurrently, as of June 2025, there are no plans for the schools to meet on the football field.
Game results
Game results sources:
See also
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List of NCAA college football rivalry games
This is a list of List of sports rivalries, rivalry games in college football. The list also shows any trophy awarded to the winner of the rivalry between the teams.
NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision
...
*
List of most-played college football series in NCAA Division I
This is a list of the most-played college football College rivalry, series in NCAA Division I. The The Rivalry (Lafayette–Lehigh), Lafayette–Lehigh rivalry, known as "The Rivalry," is the most-played in Division I at 159 games. Lehigh and Lafa ...
References
College football rivalries in the United States
Iowa State Cyclones football
Nebraska Cornhuskers football
Iowa State Cyclones traditions
Long stubs with short prose
{{Nebraska-sport-team-stub