Oklahoma And Nebraska Rivalry Renewed

One of the biggest rivalries in college football is set to renew when the Sooners take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers in a two-game series that will begin in Norman in 2021.

The OU Athletics department announced Thursday the schools have reached a deal that will set up a home-and-home series starting in Norman on Sept. 18 in 2021 followed by a game in Lincoln on Sept. 17, 2022.

11/6/12 Related Story: Sources: OU and Nebraska Rivalry Set To Reignite

OU's vice president and director of athletics, Joe Castiglione says rekindling the rivalry that has become such a rich tradition for both universities and their fan bases was important to the school.

"Classic rivalries like Oklahoma-Nebraska are part of college football's historic fabric," said Castiglione. "The ability to rekindle a fabled series between two tradition-rich programs and two extremely loyal and passionate fan bases was very important to both universities. Playing marquee non-conference opponents remains an integral part of our scheduling philosophy. Games like Oklahoma-Nebraska embody all the qualities that make regular season Saturdays in college football matter to so many."

This pair of longtime Big 12 and Big 8 foes most recently met in the 2010 Big 12 Championship Game when Oklahoma claimed a 23-20 victory on Dec. 4 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Nebraska's most recent visit to Norman came when the Sooners registered a 62-28 win on Nov. 1, 2008.

The most storied game in this historic series is undoubtedly the fabled 1971 "Game of the Century" in Norman that featured No. 2 Oklahoma and No. 1 Nebraska as the Cornhuskers prevailed by a 35-31 count. The game in 2021 will commemorate the 50th anniversary of that classic OU-Nebraska contest. The two teams also entered their 1987 contest ranked atop the AP Poll, as Barry Switzer's No. 2 Sooners captured a 17-7 win over Tom Osborne's No. 1 Cornhuskers.

Oklahoma leads the all-time series by a 45-38-3 margin. The two teams met annually every year from 1928 to 1997.

Oklahoma has won six of its eight last meetings with Nebraska under head coach Bob Stoops, including a 31-14 home victory in 2000 en route to OU's seventh national championship as the No. 3 Sooners upset the No. 1 Cornhuskers. The Sooners also prevailed by a 21-7 margin in the 2006 Big 12 Championship Game played at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.