Whose comment section wins?
Pick any two fanbases and compare what their comment sections say, stat for stat.
Who is happier
Fan Score counts positive comments per 1,000, so a loud fanbase cannot buy its way up the board. Positive share tells the same story as a percentage of everything said.
Fan Score
Positive comments per 1,000 (higher wins)
Positive comments per 1,000 (higher wins)
Positive share
Share of all comments that are positive
Share of all comments that are positive
Who is harsher
Negativity, toxicity and explicit language, every one of them per 1,000 comments so the two sides stay comparable whatever their volume.
Negativity
Negative comments per 1,000 (lower wins)
Negative comments per 1,000 (lower wins)
Toxicity
Harm and identity-based abuse per 1,000 (lower wins)
Harm and identity-based abuse per 1,000 (lower wins)
Explicit language
Explicit-language comments per 1,000 (lower wins)
Explicit-language comments per 1,000 (lower wins)
Identity-based abuse, tag by tag
Tag applications per 1,000 comments
Ball State left, Northern Illinois right. Tag applications per 1,000 comments, on the same scale across every row. Reported as rates only: this block never picks a winner.
What they talk about
Three topic groups where neither direction is better, just louder. These rows describe a comment section instead of scoring it.
Betting talk
Sports-betting comments per 1,000
Sports-betting comments per 1,000
Team & front office talk
Team and front-office comments per 1,000: coaching, the athletic department, and gameday
Team and front-office comments per 1,000: coaching, the athletic department, and gameday
NIL & portal talk
NIL and Transfer Portal tag applications per 1,000, which may overlap
NIL and Transfer Portal tag applications per 1,000, which may overlap
Week by week, side by side
The same season read twice: weekly mood for both comment sections, the weeks the two teams actually met, and where each fanbase lands nationally on the seven topic groups.
Rivalry pulse
| Week of | Ball State result | Ball State positive share | Ball State negative share | Northern Illinois result | Northern Illinois positive share | Northern Illinois negative share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-08-23 | – | 86.2% | 6.9% | – | 92.3% | 0% |
| 2025-08-30 | L | 60.5% | 25% | W L | 90.5% | 2.4% |
| 2025-09-06 | L | 80.4% | 11.6% | – | 33.3% | 66.7% |
| 2025-09-13 | W | 86.4% | 5.7% | – | 88.1% | 11.9% |
| 2025-09-20 | L | 54.8% | 32.3% | L | 80.5% | 10.4% |
| 2025-09-27 | – | 75% | 25% | L | 65.9% | 25% |
| 2025-10-04 | W | 79.2% | 11.3% | L | 68% | 24% |
| 2025-10-11 | L | 75.9% | 17.2% | L | 66.7% | 27.3% |
| 2025-10-18 | W | 78.4% | 9.8% | L | 54.8% | 41.9% |
| 2025-10-25 | L | 39.1% | 43.5% | W | 84.3% | 8.6% |
| 2025-11-01 | W | 50% | 42.6% | L | 46.9% | 51% |
| 2025-11-08 | – | 60.7% | 35.7% | W | 54.1% | 38.5% |
| 2025-11-15 | L | 61.3% | 22.6% | L | 82.8% | 17.2% |
| 2025-11-22 | L | 73.7% | 21.1% | L | 88.5% | 6.6% |
| 2025-11-29 | L | 71.9% | 28.1% | – | 86% | 7.4% |
| 2025-12-06 | – | 94.1% | 0% | – | 83.9% | 3.2% |
| 2025-12-13 | – | 100% | 0% | – | 48.8% | 26.8% |
| 2025-12-20 | – | 100% | 0% | – | 55.6% | 22.2% |
| 2025-12-27 | – | – | – | – | 100% | 0% |
| 2026-01-03 | – | 100% | 0% | – | 79.1% | 16.3% |
| 2026-01-10 | – | 100% | 0% | – | 100% | 0% |
| 2026-01-17 | – | – | – | – | 62.5% | 25% |
“Good luck Cards!! We'll be watching on ESPN+”
“Missed field goal. Let NIU score with mostly runs. 45 is a beast for them. Lots of missed tackles. Need improvement in the 4th. Too much from Kelly. Move it around.”
“Let’s do this. Keep the Stalk from returning to Muncie.”
“Sucks that won't be games for stuff like that when they move to the mountain west”
Fingerprint duel
Each fanbase's national percentile on the seven comment-topic groups, overlaid.
- Ball State Harm: low volume, not ranked
- Ball State Identity-Based Abuse: low volume, not ranked
- Ball State Explicit Language: low volume, not ranked
- Ball State College Sports: low volume, not ranked
- Ball State Off-Field Storylines: low volume, not ranked
- Ball State Sports Betting: low volume, not ranked
- Ball State Team & Front Office: low volume, not ranked
- Northern Illinois Harm: low volume, not ranked
- Northern Illinois Identity-Based Abuse: low volume, not ranked
- Northern Illinois Explicit Language: low volume, not ranked
- Northern Illinois College Sports: low volume, not ranked
- Northern Illinois Off-Field Storylines: low volume, not ranked
- Northern Illinois Sports Betting: low volume, not ranked
- Northern Illinois Team & Front Office: low volume, not ranked
The season, felt twice
Weekly positive share for both comment sections on one axis; hover shows the week's combined comment volume. Ball State's positive share was higher in 11 of 20 shared weeks, Northern Illinois's in 8.
| Week of | BALL | NIU | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-08-23 | 86.2% | 92.3% | 84 |
| 2025-08-30 | 60.5% | 90.5% | 160 |
| 2025-09-06 | 80.4% | 33.3% | 124 |
| 2025-09-13 | 86.4% | 88.1% | 130 |
| 2025-09-20 | 54.8% | 80.5% | 108 |
| 2025-09-27 | 75% | 65.9% | 56 |
| 2025-10-04 | 79.2% | 68% | 156 |
| 2025-10-11 | 75.9% | 66.7% | 124 |
| 2025-10-18 | 78.4% | 54.8% | 113 |
| 2025-10-25 | 39.1% | 84.3% | 93 |
| 2025-11-01 | 50% | 46.9% | 103 |
| 2025-11-08 | 60.7% | 54.1% | 150 |
| 2025-11-15 | 61.3% | 82.8% | 60 |
| 2025-11-22 | 73.7% | 88.5% | 80 |
| 2025-11-29 | 71.9% | 86% | 153 |
| 2025-12-06 | 94.1% | 83.9% | 48 |
| 2025-12-13 | 100% | 48.8% | 43 |
| 2025-12-20 | 100% | 55.6% | 16 |
| 2025-12-27 | 0% | 100% | 12 |
| 2026-01-03 | 100% | 79.1% | 54 |
| 2026-01-10 | 100% | 100% | 25 |
| 2026-01-17 | 0% | 62.5% | 8 |