Can you "throw the records out"?

This was my thought process:

Illinois is playing Purdue this weekend.
This is one of the only conference games that Illinois could win.
Illinois needs two wins to be bowl eligible, if they win this one, where could the other win come from?
Northwestern is good this year, but it's a rivalry game, so I wonder if the records matter in this series.
People always say that you can throw the records out in a rivalry, but I bet it's not true.

- - -

So how do I determine if we can throw the records out? I'm going to look at since I became an Illini when Illinois played Northwestern where either team was 3 or more wins better on the season. I figure the only time you'd use the expression is when one team would seem to be heavily favored.

2012: NU better season, NU win
2009: NU better season, NU win
2008: NU better season, NU win
2007: ILL better season, ILL win
2005: NU better season, NU win
2003: NU better season, NU win
2001: ILL better season, ILL win

So there you go. The team with a significantly better season is 7-0. In this particular rivalry, you can absolutely not throw out the records. Keep them in.