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
Illinois left, Northwestern 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 | Illinois result | Illinois positive share | Illinois negative share | Northwestern result | Northwestern positive share | Northwestern negative share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-08-23 | W | 66.7% | 16.2% | – | 100% | 0% |
| 2025-08-30 | – | 60.7% | 18% | L W | 12.1% | 78.8% |
| 2025-09-06 | W | 64.8% | 23% | – | 50.6% | 33.3% |
| 2025-09-13 | W | 50.9% | 33% | L | 50% | 35% |
| 2025-09-20 | L | 17.7% | 68.6% | – | 70.8% | 29.2% |
| 2025-09-27 | W | 59.6% | 28.2% | W | 64.8% | 25.4% |
| 2025-10-04 | W | 63.1% | 22% | W | 75.4% | 6.2% |
| 2025-10-11 | L | 34% | 50.7% | W | 75% | 14.4% |
| 2025-10-18 | – | 41.3% | 43.2% | W | 76.8% | 14.1% |
| 2025-10-25 | L | 25.2% | 63.3% | L | 56% | 36% |
| 2025-11-01 | W | 64.9% | 23.3% | L | 68.8% | 31.3% |
| 2025-11-08 | – | 64.7% | 14.5% | – | 94.7% | 0% |
| 2025-11-15 | W | 59.7% | 26.7% | L | 39.3% | 46.4% |
| 2025-11-22 | L | 27.9% | 64.3% | W | 86.7% | 7.6% |
| 2025-11-29 | W | 65.8% | 18.1% | L | 88.2% | 2% |
| 2025-12-06 | – | 62.8% | 14.3% | – | 68.3% | 11.1% |
| 2025-12-13 | – | 83.8% | 7.8% | – | – | – |
| 2025-12-20 | – | 82.1% | 7.3% | W | 66% | 28.3% |
| 2025-12-27 | W | 80% | 12.2% | – | 54% | 32% |
| 2026-01-03 | – | 63.9% | 20.1% | – | 60.4% | 17.6% |
| 2026-01-10 | – | 43.6% | 30.3% | – | 25% | 75% |
| 2026-01-17 | – | 35.8% | 31.2% | – | – | – |
“Will he opt out of playing/getting injured in a meaningless bowl game?”
“Sad I won’t be able to make it! Best of luck to all the seniors! I L L🏈🧡💙”
“Here's the link to streamed: COLLEGE SPORTS 2025”
“Where is the sweet Sioux tomahawk trophy?”
Fingerprint duel
Each fanbase's national percentile on the seven comment-topic groups, overlaid.
- Illinois Harm: 52nd percentile of ranked FBS teams
- Illinois Identity-Based Abuse: 37th percentile of ranked FBS teams
- Illinois Explicit Language: 62nd percentile of ranked FBS teams
- Illinois College Sports: 56th percentile of ranked FBS teams
- Illinois Off-Field Storylines: 80th percentile of ranked FBS teams
- Illinois Sports Betting: 76th percentile of ranked FBS teams
- Illinois Team & Front Office: 24th percentile of ranked FBS teams
- Northwestern Harm: low volume, not ranked
- Northwestern Identity-Based Abuse: low volume, not ranked
- Northwestern Explicit Language: low volume, not ranked
- Northwestern College Sports: low volume, not ranked
- Northwestern Off-Field Storylines: low volume, not ranked
- Northwestern Sports Betting: low volume, not ranked
- Northwestern 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. Illinois's positive share was higher in 8 of 20 shared weeks, Northwestern's in 12.
| Week of | ILL | NU | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-08-23 | 66.7% | 100% | 205 |
| 2025-08-30 | 60.7% | 12.1% | 662 |
| 2025-09-06 | 64.8% | 50.6% | 1,148 |
| 2025-09-13 | 50.9% | 50% | 744 |
| 2025-09-20 | 17.7% | 70.8% | 2,032 |
| 2025-09-27 | 59.6% | 64.8% | 1,346 |
| 2025-10-04 | 63.1% | 75.4% | 1,022 |
| 2025-10-11 | 34% | 75% | 1,090 |
| 2025-10-18 | 41.3% | 76.8% | 480 |
| 2025-10-25 | 25.2% | 56% | 505 |
| 2025-11-01 | 64.9% | 68.8% | 406 |
| 2025-11-08 | 64.7% | 94.7% | 226 |
| 2025-11-15 | 59.7% | 39.3% | 544 |
| 2025-11-22 | 27.9% | 86.7% | 995 |
| 2025-11-29 | 65.8% | 88.2% | 1,279 |
| 2025-12-06 | 62.8% | 68.3% | 412 |
| 2025-12-13 | 83.8% | 0% | 179 |
| 2025-12-20 | 82.1% | 66% | 229 |
| 2025-12-27 | 80% | 54% | 2,321 |
| 2026-01-03 | 63.9% | 60.4% | 559 |
| 2026-01-10 | 43.6% | 25% | 460 |
| 2026-01-17 | 35.8% | 0% | 173 |