College football / Rivalry archive
Northern Illinois vs Northwestern Timeline
Explore every documented meeting, final score and season in the recorded history between Northern Illinois and Northwestern.
PROGRAM ONENorthern Illinois1 recorded wins
HEAD TO HEAD1–6–1WINS · LOSSES · TIES
PROGRAM TWONorthwestern6 recorded wins
8Recorded meetings
1975Earliest documented
2014Most recent season
1Tied games
THE RIVALRY THROUGH TIME
Head-to-head timeline
Meetings are listed oldest first. Scores and dates reflect the available historical records.
- 1975Northern Illinois3 — 10Northwestern
- 1982Northern Illinois6 — 31Northwestern
- 1985Northern Illinois16 — 38Northwestern
- 1987Northern Illinois16 — 16Northwestern
- 1990Northern Illinois7 — 24Northwestern
- 2000Northern Illinois17 — 35Northwestern
- 2005Northern Illinois37 — 38Northwestern
- 2014Northern Illinois23 — 15Northwestern
THE COMPLETE SCOREBOOK
All recorded results
The latest documented meeting appears first.
| Season | Matchup | Score | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Northern Illinois vs Northwestern | 23–15 | Northern Illinois won |
| 2005 | Northern Illinois vs Northwestern | 37–38 | Northwestern won |
| 2000 | Northern Illinois vs Northwestern | 17–35 | Northwestern won |
| 1990 | Northern Illinois vs Northwestern | 7–24 | Northwestern won |
| 1987 | Northern Illinois vs Northwestern | 16–16 | Tie |
| 1985 | Northern Illinois vs Northwestern | 16–38 | Northwestern won |
| 1982 | Northern Illinois vs Northwestern | 6–31 | Northwestern won |
| 1975 | Northern Illinois vs Northwestern | 3–10 | Northwestern won |
OUR DATA STANDARD
Sources and historical coverage
These results are compiled from season-by-season records imported from CollegeFootballData. Only games with both final scores are counted. Older seasons and some lower-division records may be incomplete; the earliest documented year is not necessarily the first meeting ever played.
Page updated November 7, 2026 · Historical records are subject to correction.