Academic Bowl (college football)

The Academic Bowl is an annual rivalry football game and trophy between the Spartans of Case Western Reserve University and Tartans of Carnegie Mellon University.

Academic Bowl

Teams	Case Western Reserve Spartans Carnegie Mellon Tartans
First meeting	September 20, 1986 Case Western Reserve 21, Carnegie Mellon 14
Latest meeting	November 16, 2024 Carnegie Mellon 37, Case Western Reserve 30
Next meeting	TBD
Stadiums	Gesling Stadium, DiSanto Field
Trophy	Academic Bowl Trophy
Statistics
Meetings total	38
All-time series	Carnegie Mellon leads, 23–15
Largest victory	Carnegie Mellon 56, Case Western Reserve 0 (1993)
Longest win streak	Case Western Reserve, 8 (2007–2014)
Current win streak	Carnegie Mellon, 6 (2018–present)
Case Western Reserve Carnegie Mellon Locations of the two schools.

Predating the Academic Bowl trophy name, Carnegie Tech first played Case Tech in 1907^[1] and Western Reserve in 1909,^[2] meeting up multiple times over the next few decades. Upon the merger of Case Tech and Western Reserve, the match-up resumed in 1970.^[3] It was not until 1986 when the Academic Bowl was officially created. The match-up mirrors the sports rivalry between the two cities of Cleveland and Pittsburgh.

The Academic Bowl emphasizes “Commitment to Academic and Athletic Excellence,” as both universities are often ranked scholastically among the top in the nation, especially as research universities.^[4]

Coach Rich Lackner coached the Tartans in the first 34 games of the rivalry, achieving a 19–15 record. He was succeeded by Ryan Larsen, who is undefeated in the rivalry. For Case Western Reserve, Coach Greg Debeljak carries a 10–11 record, including the longest winning streak at eight games.

In 2024, Carnegie Mellon announced it would be moving to the Centennial Conference, whereas Case Western remained in the Presidents' Athletic Conference. No deal was struck to continue the rivalry with an out-of-conference game, and the rivalry was put on hold.

Game results

Case Western Reserve victories

Carnegie Mellon victories

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 1986 Cleveland Case Western Reserve 21–14 2 1987 Pittsburgh Carnegie Mellon 13–12 3 1988 Cleveland Case Western Reserve 32–22 4 1989 Pittsburgh Carnegie Mellon 48–14 5 1990 Cleveland Carnegie Mellon 42–17 6 1991 Pittsburgh Carnegie Mellon 43–0 7 1992 Cleveland Carnegie Mellon 33–14 8 1993 Pittsburgh Carnegie Mellon 56–0 9 1994 Cleveland Carnegie Mellon 50–8 10 1995 Pittsburgh Case Western Reserve 3–0 11 1996 Cleveland Case Western Reserve 16–0 12 1997 Pittsburgh Carnegie Mellon 16–7 13 1998 Cleveland Carnegie Mellon 14–7 14 1999 Pittsburgh Carnegie Mellon 42–0 15 2000 Cleveland Carnegie Mellon 45–14 16 2001 Pittsburgh Carnegie Mellon 42–14 17 2002 Cleveland Case Western Reserve 42–35 18 2003 Pittsburgh Carnegie Mellon 44–16 19 2004 Cleveland Case Western Reserve 24–14 20 2005 Pittsburgh Carnegie Mellon 23–20 No. Date Location Winner Score 21 2006 Cleveland Carnegie Mellon 20–10 22 2007 Pittsburgh Case Western Reserve 20–17 23 2008 Cleveland Case Western Reserve 38–13 24 2009 Pittsburgh Case Western Reserve 34–17 25 2010 Cleveland Case Western Reserve 28–0 26 2011 Pittsburgh Case Western Reserve 38–24 27 2012 Cleveland Case Western Reserve 36–24 28 2013 Pittsburgh Case Western Reserve 35–32 29 2014 Cleveland Case Western Reserve 30–0 30 2015 Pittsburgh Carnegie Mellon 52–42 31 2016 Cleveland Carnegie Mellon 26–21 32 2017 Pittsburgh Case Western Reserve 41–34 33 2018 Cleveland Carnegie Mellon 29–23 34 2019 Pittsburgh Carnegie Mellon 24–21 35 2021 Pittsburgh Carnegie Mellon 24–6 36 2022 Cleveland Carnegie Mellon 20–7 37 2023 Pittsburgh Carnegie Mellon 31–21 38 2024 Cleveland Carnegie Mellon 37–30 Series: Carnegie Mellon leads 23–15

See also

• Browns–Steelers rivalry
• List of NCAA college football rivalry games