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
Northern Illinois left, Western Michigan 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 | Northern Illinois result | Northern Illinois positive share | Northern Illinois negative share | Western Michigan result | Western Michigan positive share | Western Michigan negative share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-08-23 | – | 92.3% | 0% | L | 86.2% | 9.4% |
| 2025-08-30 | W L | 90.5% | 2.4% | – | 41.6% | 46% |
| 2025-09-06 | – | 33.3% | 66.7% | L | 25.6% | 60.3% |
| 2025-09-13 | – | 88.1% | 11.9% | L | 43.1% | 42% |
| 2025-09-20 | L | 80.5% | 10.4% | W | 80.7% | 10.2% |
| 2025-09-27 | L | 65.9% | 25% | W | 84.7% | 8.8% |
| 2025-10-04 | L | 68% | 24% | W | 81.5% | 8.6% |
| 2025-10-11 | L | 66.7% | 27.3% | W | 86.6% | 2.5% |
| 2025-10-18 | L | 54.8% | 41.9% | – | 82% | 8% |
| 2025-10-25 | W | 84.3% | 8.6% | L | 48.4% | 42.1% |
| 2025-11-01 | L | 46.9% | 51% | W | 83.9% | 10.2% |
| 2025-11-08 | W | 54.1% | 38.5% | W | 77.6% | 12.4% |
| 2025-11-15 | L | 82.8% | 17.2% | W | 81% | 9.6% |
| 2025-11-22 | L | 88.5% | 6.6% | W | 85.5% | 7.6% |
| 2025-11-29 | – | 86% | 7.4% | – | 91.7% | 3.4% |
| 2025-12-06 | – | 83.9% | 3.2% | W | 92.8% | 3.1% |
| 2025-12-13 | – | 48.8% | 26.8% | W | 88.8% | 3.6% |
| 2025-12-20 | – | 55.6% | 22.2% | – | 94.6% | 2.4% |
| 2025-12-27 | – | 100% | 0% | – | 84% | 12% |
| 2026-01-03 | – | 79.1% | 16.3% | – | 84.5% | 8.3% |
| 2026-01-10 | – | 100% | 0% | – | 80% | 6.7% |
| 2026-01-17 | – | 62.5% | 25% | – | 88.9% | 0% |
“Should have let us know days ago. I'm already tailgating.”
“It’s time to bring down the top!!! #THEHARDWAY”
“Early in the game, I know Western Michigan is gonna blow the Mac tonight. I can feel it. It’s already seven to nothing and northern Illinois has the ball and scoring position after the interception fire coach Taylor. ”
“Pathetic offense so far…dumb play calling like they’re afraid to lose…and run backwards after a first down pass??? Wow..”
Fingerprint duel
Each fanbase's national percentile on the seven comment-topic groups, overlaid.
- 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
- Western Michigan Harm: 4th percentile of ranked FBS teams
- Western Michigan Identity-Based Abuse: low volume, not ranked
- Western Michigan Explicit Language: 20th percentile of ranked FBS teams
- Western Michigan College Sports: 29th percentile of ranked FBS teams
- Western Michigan Off-Field Storylines: 4th percentile of ranked FBS teams
- Western Michigan Sports Betting: low volume, not ranked
- Western Michigan Team & Front Office: 17th percentile of ranked FBS teams
The season, felt twice
Weekly positive share for both comment sections on one axis; hover shows the week's combined comment volume. Northern Illinois's positive share was higher in 9 of 22 shared weeks, Western Michigan's in 13.
| Week of | NIU | WMU | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-08-23 | 92.3% | 86.2% | 185 |
| 2025-08-30 | 90.5% | 41.6% | 334 |
| 2025-09-06 | 33.3% | 25.6% | 329 |
| 2025-09-13 | 88.1% | 43.1% | 230 |
| 2025-09-20 | 80.5% | 80.7% | 382 |
| 2025-09-27 | 65.9% | 84.7% | 181 |
| 2025-10-04 | 68% | 81.5% | 131 |
| 2025-10-11 | 66.7% | 86.6% | 185 |
| 2025-10-18 | 54.8% | 82% | 112 |
| 2025-10-25 | 84.3% | 48.4% | 196 |
| 2025-11-01 | 46.9% | 83.9% | 285 |
| 2025-11-08 | 54.1% | 77.6% | 470 |
| 2025-11-15 | 82.8% | 81% | 340 |
| 2025-11-22 | 88.5% | 85.5% | 467 |
| 2025-11-29 | 86% | 91.7% | 472 |
| 2025-12-06 | 83.9% | 92.8% | 321 |
| 2025-12-13 | 48.8% | 88.8% | 674 |
| 2025-12-20 | 55.6% | 94.6% | 176 |
| 2025-12-27 | 100% | 84% | 37 |
| 2026-01-03 | 79.1% | 84.5% | 127 |
| 2026-01-10 | 100% | 80% | 38 |
| 2026-01-17 | 62.5% | 88.9% | 17 |