The Colgate–Cornell football 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 A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...

between the

Colgate Raiders The Colgate Raiders are the athletic teams that represent Colgate University. The teams include men and women's basketball, cross country, ice hockey, lacrosse, rowing, soccer, swimming & diving, track and field and tennis. Men's sports include g ...

and the

Cornell Big Red The Cornell Big Red is the informal name of the sports and other competitive teams that represent Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. The university sponsors 37 varsity sports, and several intramural sports, intramural and club teams. Cornell ...

. The two teams have met 105 times since their first meeting in 1896. Cornell has played Colgate in football more times than any other opponent except

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...

rivals Penn and Columbia. With Colgate's victory in the 2024 meeting, the series is tied, 51–51–3.

History

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

, located in

Tompkins County, New York Tompkins County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. As of the United States Census 2020, 2020 census, the population was 105,740. The county seat is Ithaca, New York, Ithaca. The name is ...

, and

Colgate University Colgate University is a Private university, private college in Hamilton, New York, United States. The Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York ...

, located in

Madison County, New York Madison County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 68,016. Its county seat is Wampsville. The county is named after James Madison, the fourth president of the United States, and was ...

, are less than 100 miles from each other. Their close proximity and membership in rival athletic conferences (the

and the

Patriot League The Patriot League is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference comprising primarily leading Private university, private institutions of higher education and two United States service academies based in the Northeastern United ...

, respectively) contribute to the rivalry between the two schools. The Cornell and Colgate football teams met for the first time in Ithaca on September 26, 1896, a game that ended in a 6–0 victory for Cornell. Cornell would go on to win or tie the next 13 meetings until Colgate clinched its first win in the series, 13–7, in 1912. Cornell continued to dominate the series, compiling a 29–7–2 record against Colgate through 1951. Colgate took 9 of 13 meetings from 1952 through 1964, after which Cornell returned to dominance, winning 8 of 10 from 1965 through 1974. Since then, Colgate has held the advantage in the series, but Cornell's early dominance has rendered the all-time series record nearly even. The game is usually played in late September or early October and has alternated between Cornell's

Schoellkopf Field Schoellkopf Field is a 21,500-capacity stadium at Cornell University's Ithaca campus that opened in 1915 and is used for the Cornell Big Red football, sprint football and lacrosse teams. It is located just north of Cascadilla Creek on the sout ...

Ithaca, New York Ithaca () is a city in and the county seat of Tompkins County, New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York (state), New York, Ithaca is the largest community in the Ithaca metrop ...

, and Colgate's Andy Kerr Stadium in

Hamilton, New York Hamilton is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Madison County, New York, Madison County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 6,379 at the 2020 census. The town is named after American Founding Father ...

, since 2009. The rivalry has been largely uninterrupted from its beginning in 1896, but the teams did not meet in 1909–10, 1915–16, 1918, and 1924–36. The Cornell–Colgate game has been annual since 1937, save for four exceptions in 1994, 1995, 1998, and 2012. Of the teams' more notable meetings, Colgate was Cornell's opponent when Cornell played its first-ever Friday night home game in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, which Colgate won 28–21. In 2016, the Big Red defeated the nationally-ranked Raiders in Hamilton, 39–38, after having trailed 28–5; it was the first time Cornell defeated a ranked team on the road since 1950.

Game results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colgate-Cornell football rivalry College football rivalries in the United States Colgate Raiders football Cornell Big Red football 1896 establishments in New York (state)

History

Game results

See also

References