Throwback Thursday: 118 Big Games

Cal hosts Stanford on Saturday in the 119th Big Game. The two academic juggernauts first met for a football affair in 1892. Entering the 2016 season, it's the eleventh most played college football rivalry game in the country.

1.   Lehigh-Lafayette  151 games
2.   Yale-Princeton  138
3.   Yale-Harvard  132
4.   William & Mary-Richmond  126
5.   Minnesota-Wisconsin  125
6.   Miami (OH)-Cincinnati  120
      North Carolina-Virginia  120
      Missouri-Kansas  120
9    Georgia-Auburn  119
      Oregon-Oregon State  119
11. Cal-Stanford  118
      Texas-Texas A&M  118
      Purdue-Indiana  118

It might be the 11th most played rivalry game but it's clearly the best, most exciting rivalry.

Despite having one fewer game than the Oregon-Oregon State rivalry the Big Game is the oldest rivalry in the West. The Ducks and Beavers played for the first time in 1894.

Stanford (unfortunately) leads the all-time series: 61-46-11(including rugby games)
At Berkeley: Stanford leads 26-21-6
At Stanford: Stanford leads 30-21-1
At San Francisco: Stanford leads 5-4-4
Longest win streak: Stanford 7, 1995-2001-very ugly years
Longest unbeaten streak: Cal 8, 1947-54-beautiful years
Current streak: Stanford, 6 2010-15-has to end Saturday

The term "Big Game" was first used in 1900 for the Thanksgiving Day clash.

The two teams play for the Stanford Axe. The Axe made it's first appearance at a Stanford pep rally on April 13, 1899. The Axe made it's second appearance two days later at a Cal-Stanford baseball game in San Francisco. Stanford yell leaders displayed and paraded the Axe with a pathetic cheer. Cal students didn't much care for any of it and stole the Axe. The flight from San Francisco to Berkeley was a thrill. Cal kept the Axe safe and in Berkeley for 31 years. Stanford deviants stole it in 1930 and kept it in a bank vault for three years. It was in 1933 that both universities agreed that the Stanford Axe would be the annual trophy for the Big Game. That agreement hasn't kept Cal or Stanford students from stealing or attempting to steal the Axe. Cal students have stolen it three times. Stanford students have stolen it four times. Oh, to be a college student again.

In 1906 many colleges dropped football due to concerns over the violence in football. Call and Stanford were two of those colleges. In place of football the Big Game was contested in rugby from 1906-14. Cal may pummel Stanford routinely in rugby these days but that wasn't the case during those years. Stanford had a 3-6 edge in the games played from 1906-14. Cal returned to football in 1915 but Stanford was having too much fun with rugby. They didn't return to football until 1919. With the exception of the War years of 1943-45 the Big Game has been played every year since 1919.

Here are the results of the 109 football games played to date.

Go Bears! Beat Stanford!

#	Date	Location	Winner	Score
1	1892	San Francisco	Stanford	14–10
2	1892	San Francisco	Tie	10–10
3	1893	San Francisco	Tie	6–6
4	1894	San Francisco	Stanford	6–0
5	1895	San Francisco	Tie	6–6
6	1896	San Francisco	Stanford	20–0
7	1897	San Francisco	Stanford	28–0
8	1898	San Francisco	California	22–0
9	1899	San Francisco	California	30–0
10	1900	San Francisco	Stanford	5–0
11	1901	San Francisco	California	2–0
12	1902	San Francisco	California	16–0
13	1903	San Francisco	Tie	6–6
14	1904	Berkeley	Stanford	18–0
15	1905	Palo Alto	Stanford	12–5
16	1919	Stanford	California	14–10
17	1920	Berkeley	California	38–0
18	1921	Stanford	California	42–7
19	1922	Stanford	California	28–0
20	1923	Berkeley	California	9–0
21	1924	Berkeley	Tie	20–20
22	1925	Stanford	Stanford	27–14
23	1926	Berkeley	Stanford	41–6
24	1927	Stanford	Stanford	13–6
25	1928	Berkeley	Tie	13–13
26	1929	Stanford	Stanford	21–6
27	1930	Berkeley	Stanford	41–0
28	1931	Stanford	California	6–0
29	1932	Berkeley	Tie	0–0
30	1933	Stanford	Stanford	7–3
31	1934	Berkeley	Stanford	9–7
32	1935	Stanford	Stanford	13–0
33	1936	Berkeley	California	20–0
34	1937	Stanford	California	13–0
35	1938	Berkeley	California	6–0
36	1939	Stanford	California	32–14
37	1940	Berkeley	Stanford	13–7
38	1941	Stanford	California	16–0
39	1942	Berkeley	Stanford	26–7
40	1946	Berkeley	Stanford	25–6
41	1947	Stanford	California	21–18
42	1948	Berkeley	California	7–6
43	1949	Stanford	California	33–14
44	1950	Berkeley	Tie	7–7
45	1951	Stanford	California	20–7
46	1952	Berkeley	California	26–0
47	1953	Stanford	Tie	21–21
48	1954	Berkeley	California	28–20
49	1955	Stanford	Stanford	19–0
50	1956	Berkeley	California	20–18
51	1957	Stanford	Stanford	14–12
52	1958	Berkeley	California	16–15
53	1959	Stanford	California	20–17
54	1960	Berkeley	California	21–10
55	1961	Stanford	Stanford	20–7
56	1962	Berkeley	Stanford	30–13

#	Date	Location	Winner	Score
57	1963	Stanford	Stanford	28–17
58	1964	Berkeley	Stanford	21–3
59	1965	Stanford	Stanford	9–7
60	1966	Berkeley	Stanford	13–7
61	1967	Stanford	California	26–3
62	1968	Berkeley	Stanford	20–0
63	1969	Stanford	Stanford	29–28
64	1970	Berkeley	California	22–14
65	1971	Stanford	Stanford	14–0
66	1972	Berkeley	California	24–21
67	1973	Stanford	Stanford	26–17
68	1974	Berkeley	Stanford	22–20
69	1975	Stanford	California	48–15
70	1976	Berkeley	Stanford	27–24
71	1977	Stanford	Stanford	21–3
72	1978	Berkeley	Stanford	30–10
73	1979	Stanford	California	21–14
74	1980	Berkeley	California	28–23
75	1981	Stanford	Stanford	42–21
76	1982	Berkeley	California	25–20
77	1983	Stanford	California	27–18
78	1984	Berkeley	Stanford	27–10
79	1985	Stanford	Stanford	24–22
80	1986	Berkeley	California	17–11
81	1987	Stanford	Stanford	31–7
82	1988	Berkeley	Tie	19–19
83	1989	Stanford	Stanford	24–17
84	1990	Berkeley	Stanford	27–25
85	1991	Stanford	Stanford	38–21
86	1992	Berkeley	Stanford	41–21
87	1993	Stanford	California	46–17
88	1994	Berkeley	California	24–23
89	1995	Stanford	Stanford	29–24
90	1996	Berkeley	Stanford	42–21
91	1997	Stanford	Stanford	21–20
92	1998	Berkeley	Stanford	10–3
93	1999	Stanford	Stanford	31–13
94	2000	Berkeley	Stanford	36–30
95	2001	Stanford	Stanford	35–28
96	2002	Berkeley	California	30–7
97	2003	Stanford	California	28–16
98	2004	Berkeley	California	41–6
99	2005	Stanford	California	27–3
100	2006	Berkeley	California	26–17
101	2007	Stanford	Stanford	20–13
102	2008	Berkeley	California	37–16
103	2009	Stanford	California	34–28
104	2010	Berkeley	Stanford	48–14
105	2011	Stanford	Stanford	31–28
106	2012	Berkeley	Stanford	21–3
107	2013	Stanford	Stanford	63–13
108	2014	Berkeley	Stanford	38–17
109	2015	Stanford	Stanford	35–22