CORRECTION: This story incorrectly reported the number of CU faculty members who have won Nobel Prizes. There have been four total: three in physics and one in chemistry. The story also misidentified CU’s integrative physiology program.
The University of Colorado and the University of Nebraska have been competing on the football field since 1898.
But as they approach their last Big 12 game, here is a match-up of the universities and their towns.
What: Final Big 12 football game for the two teams
When: Friday, 1:30 p.m.
Where: Lincoln, Neb.
TV: ABC
The schools
Enrollment: CU has around 29,952 students, including 24,806 undergraduates. NU has approximately 24,610 students; 19,380 are undergraduates.
Most popular major: The most popular major (highest enrollment) at both schools is psychology with almost 2,000 students majoring at CU and 800 majors at NU.
Rankings: U.S. News and World Report ranked CU-Boulder No. 86 among the best public universities this year with NU trailing slightly at No. 104.
CU prides itself on research and nationally recognized academic programs like aerospace engineering, environmental science and integrative physiology. NU is proud to have a highly rated and rare agricultural sciences program and also received national recognition for its business and computer sciences.
Mascots: Ralphie the Buffalo has been CU’s mascot since 1934. A team of five students called “Ralphie Runners” lead her around the field before every half at Folsom Field. Ralphie can reach speeds of up to 25 miles per hour. She was named college athletics’ “coolest mascot” by an Associated Press poll this year and has received several similar awards over the years.
Herbie Husker has been NU’s mascot since 1974. A cornhusker is someone who removes the outer covering from corn. Herbie underwent a makeover before the 2003 season and now wears a red cowboy hat, red work shirt, blue jeans and work boots. In 2005, he won top national honors in the Capital One Mascot Challenge.
Famous faces: Steve Wozniak, co-founder Apple Inc. and actor Christopher Meloni, of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, are CU alumni. CU has produced four Nobel laureates, three for physics and one for chemistry.
NU has produced three Nobel Prize winners, one with a prize in medicine and two for chemistry. Famous alumni include the late Johnny Carson, host of the Tonight Show, business legend Warren Buffett and Theodore Sorensen, special counsel to President John F. Kennedy.
The towns
Population: Boulder has a population of 100,160, while Lincoln is home to 241,167 people, according to the latest Census data.
Education: In Boulder, 66.9 percent of the population has a bachelor’s degree or higher. In Lincoln, the number drops to 33.3 percent.
Famous faces: Boulder has seen its share of notable faces. Sex and the City’s Kristen Davis and Isaac Slade, lead singer of The Fray, were born in Boulder. Actress Jessica Biel was raised in Boulder and Dave Scott, six-time winner of the Ironman Triathlon, is currently a resident. Boulder has also been home to several writers, filmmakers, astronauts and Olympic athletes.
Lincoln has also produced a few familiar faces, like Maroon 5 guitarist James Valentine, Academy Award winner Hilary Swank and former Vice President Dick Cheney. Athletes such as New York Yankees pitcher Joba Chamberlain, NFL linebackers Bo and Barrett Rudd and NBA player Alex Stivrins also lived in Lincoln.
