123 Big Games

Cal hosts Stanford today in the 123rd Big Game. The two academic juggernauts first met for a football affair in 1892. Entering the 2020 season, it's the twelfth most played college football rivalry game in the country. 

1.   Lehigh-Lafayette  155 games

2.   Yale-Princeton  142

3.   Yale-Harvard  136

4.   William & Mary-Richmond  130

5.   Minnesota-Wisconsin  129

6.   Penn-Cornell  126

7.   North Carolina-Virginia  125

      Georgia-Auburn  125

9.   Miami (OH)-Cincinnati  124

      Missouri-Kansas  124

11. Oregon-Oregon State  124

12. Cal-Stanford  123

      Purdue-Indiana  123

It might be the 12th most played rivalry game but it's clearly the best, most exciting rivalry.

Despite having played 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: 64-47-11(including rugby games)

At Berkeley: Stanford leads 28-21-6

At Stanford: Stanford leads 31-22-1

At San Francisco: Stanford leads 5-4-4

Longest win streak: Stanford 9, 2010-18-very ugly years

Longest Cal unbeaten streak: 8, 1947-54-beautiful years

Current streak: Cal, 1 2019

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. Cal 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 5-3-1 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 122 football, and rugby, games played to date.

Go Bears! Beat Stanford!

No.	Date	Location	Winning team		Losing team
1	1892	San Francisco	Stanford	14	California	10
2	1892	San Francisco	Tie	10	Tie	10
3	1893	San Francisco	Tie	6	Tie	6
4	1894	San Francisco	Stanford	6	California	0
5	1895	San Francisco	Tie	6	Tie	6
6	1896	San Francisco	Stanford	20	California	0
7	1897	San Francisco	Stanford	28	California	0
8	1898	San Francisco	California	22	Stanford	0
9	1899	San Francisco	California	30	Stanford	0
10	1900	San Francisco	Stanford	5	California	0
11	1901	San Francisco	California	2	Stanford	0
12	1902	San Francisco	California	16	Stanford	0
13	1903	San Francisco	Tie	6	Tie	6
14	1904	Berkeley	Stanford	18	California	0
15	1905	Stanford	Stanford	12	California	5
16	1906*	Berkeley	Stanford	6	California	3
17	1907*	Stanford	Stanford	21	California	11
18	1908*	Berkeley	Stanford	12	California	3
19	1909*	Stanford	California	19	Stanford	13
20	1910*	Berkeley	California	25	Stanford	6
21	1911*	Stanford	California	21	Stanford	3
22	1912*	Berkeley	Tie	3	Tie	3
23	1913*	Stanford	Stanford	13	California	8
24	1914*	Berkeley	Stanford	26	California	8
25	1919	Stanford	California	14	Stanford	10
26	1920	Berkeley	California	38	Stanford	0
27	1921	Stanford	California	42	Stanford	7
28	1922	Stanford	California	28	Stanford	0
29	1923	Berkeley	California	9	Stanford	0
30	1924	Berkeley	Tie	20	Tie	20
31	1925	Stanford	Stanford	27	California	14
32	1926	Berkeley	Stanford	41	California	6
33	1927	Stanford	Stanford	13	California	6
34	1928	Berkeley	Tie	13	Tie	13
35	1929	Stanford	Stanford	21	California	6
36	1930	Berkeley	Stanford	41	California	0
37	1931	Stanford	California	6	Stanford	0
38	1932	Berkeley	Tie	0	Tie	0
39	1933	Stanford	Stanford	7	California	3
40	1934	Berkeley	Stanford	9	California	7
41	1935	Stanford	Stanford	13	California	0
42	1936	Berkeley	California	20	Stanford	0
43	1937	Stanford	#2 California	13	#13 Stanford	0
44	1938	Berkeley	#9 California	6	Stanford	0
45	1939	Stanford	California	32	Stanford	14
46	1940	Berkeley	#3 Stanford	13	California	7
47	1941	Stanford	California	16	Stanford	0
48	1942	Berkeley	Stanford	26	California	7
49	1946[a]	Berkeley	Stanford	25	California	6
50	1947	Stanford	#9 California	21	Stanford	18
51	1948	Berkeley	#4 California	7	Stanford	6
52	1949	Stanford	#3 California	33	#12 Stanford	14
53	1950	Berkeley	Tie	7	Tie	7
54	1951	Stanford	#19 California	20	#3 Stanford	7
55	1952	Berkeley	California	26	Stanford	0
56	1953	Stanford	Tie	21	Tie	21
57	1954	Berkeley	California	28	Stanford	20
58	1955	Stanford	#18 Stanford	19	California	0
59	1956	Berkeley	California	20	Stanford	18
60	1957	Stanford	Stanford	14	California	12
61	1958	Berkeley	California	16	Stanford	15
62	1959	Stanford	#19 California	20	Stanford	17

No.	Date	Location	Winning team		Losing team
63	1960	Berkeley	California	21	Stanford	10
64	1961	Stanford	Stanford	20	California	7
65	1962	Berkeley	Stanford	30	California	13
66	1963	Stanford	Stanford	28	California	17
67	1964	Berkeley	Stanford	21	California	3
68	1965	Stanford	Stanford	9	California	7
69	1966	Berkeley	Stanford	13	California	7
70	1967	Stanford	California	26	Stanford	3
71	1968	Berkeley	Stanford	20	#18 California	0
72	1969	Stanford	#14 Stanford	29	California	28
73	1970	Berkeley	California	22	#11 Stanford	14
74	1971	Stanford	#18 Stanford	14	California	0
75	1972	Berkeley	California	24	Stanford	21
76	1973	Stanford	Stanford	26	California	17
77	1974	Berkeley	Stanford	22	#19 California	20
78	1975	Stanford	#13 California	48	Stanford	15
79	1976	Berkeley	Stanford	27	California	24
80	1977	Stanford	Stanford	21	California	3
81	1978	Berkeley	Stanford	30	California	10
82	1979	Stanford	California	21	Stanford	14
83	1980	Berkeley	California	28	Stanford	23
84	1981	Stanford	Stanford	42	California	21
85	1982	Berkeley	California	25	Stanford	20
86	1983	Stanford	California	27	Stanford	18
87	1984	Berkeley	Stanford	27	California	10
88	1985	Stanford	Stanford	24	California	22
89	1986	Berkeley	California	17	#16 Stanford	11
90	1987	Stanford	Stanford	31	California	7
91	1988	Berkeley	Tie	19	Tie	19
92	1989	Stanford	Stanford	24	California	17
93	1990	Berkeley	Stanford	27	California	25
94	1991	Stanford	#21 Stanford	38	#6 California	21
95	1992	Berkeley	#14 Stanford	41	California	21
96	1993	Stanford	California	46	Stanford	17
97	1994	Berkeley	California	24	Stanford	23
98	1995	Stanford	Stanford	29	California	24
99	1996	Berkeley	Stanford	42	California	21
100	1997	Stanford	Stanford	21	California	20
101	1998	Berkeley	Stanford	10	California	3
102	1999	Stanford	Stanford	31	California	13
103	2000	Berkeley	Stanford	36	California	30OT
104	2001	Stanford	#13 Stanford	35	California	28
105	2002	Berkeley	California	30	Stanford	7
106	2003	Stanford	California	28	Stanford	16
107	2004	Berkeley	#4 California	41	Stanford	6
108	2005	Stanford	California	27	Stanford	3
109	2006	Berkeley	#21 California	26	Stanford	17
110	2007	Stanford	Stanford	20	California	13
111	2008	Berkeley	California	37	Stanford	16
112	2009	Stanford	California	34	#14 Stanford	28
113	2010	Berkeley	#7 Stanford	48	California	14
114	2011	Stanford	#8 Stanford	31	California	28
115	2012	Berkeley	#22 Stanford	21	California	3
116	2013	Stanford	#10 Stanford	63	California	13
117	2014	Berkeley	Stanford	38	California	17
118	2015	Stanford	#15 Stanford	35	California	22
119	2016	Berkeley	Stanford	45	California	31
120	2017	Stanford	#22 Stanford	17	California	14
121	2018	Berkeley	Stanford	23	California	13
122	2019	Stanford	California	24	Stanford	20