Ranking the 20 best Oklahoma-Nebraska games of all time

Bill Connelly is a staff writer for ESPN.com.

The best college football rivalries are usually a combination of geography and moments. Oklahoma and Nebraska shared a conference for 90 years and, especially over the course of three decades between the 1960s and 1980s, frequently battled for top billing in both their conference and in the country at large. That created plenty of opportunities for capital-M Moments.

The drama might have slowed in the 1990s and 2000s, then came to a halt in the 2010s when Nebraska left for the Big Ten. But few rivalries have delivered more epic battles than NU-OU, which resumes Saturday with a nonconference matchup in Norman, Oklahoma. In anticipation, let’s look back at the 20 best games between the Sooners and Cornhuskers.

20. Nebraska 17, Oklahoma 14 (1960)

A year after ending OU’s conference unbeaten streak that spanned more than a decade, Bill Jennings’ Huskers pulled another upset. Just 3-6 for the season, Nebraska trailed 14-0 at halftime but charged back, tying the game on a 68-yard Bill Thornton run, then winning it with a 28-yard field goal by Ron Meade with 1:38 left.

19. No. 11 Nebraska 19, No. 19 Oklahoma 14 (1991)

The Oklahoma program trailed off considerably following NCAA sanctions and Barry Switzer’s resignation, but Gary Gibbs’ ferocious defense almost did enough to get the job done in this one. Almost. As in 1960, OU led 14-0 early, but redshirt freshman Calvin Jones drove the Huskers into the lead with a 15-yard run with 2:57 left, and the Blackshirts’ defense turned the Sooners over on downs near midfield in the final minute.

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