Passion Factor
Here we used elements to address the following questions: how popular is this matchup; how insanely fired up are these teams; and how competitive are the games? To gauge competitiveness, we looked at every game over the last 10 seasons (beginning with the 2000-2001 season) and calculated the average point differential; that figure was then adjusted on a 10-point scale.

The Google hits figure, addressing popularity, is a scaled value devised to account for the amount of media and national attention received by the rivalry, and thus how big the "stage" is; Specifically, we used Google's timeline feature and determined how many results each rivalry got over the last 10 years using standardized search terms.

Finally, in perhaps the most controversial element, we felt compelled to inject a dash of subjectivity into the mix to properly account for pure hatred between the schools; hence, Hatred. The Hatred Factor measures the animosity between the teams, their fan bases and whether there are state or city bragging rights at stake. We also considered whether the teams play once a year, or more frequently as conference opponents. We assigned a value between one and 10 (none received lower than a six).

Talent Index
We felt it necessary to account for the quality of the teams. Simply put, better teams make for a better matchup and rivalry. We couldn't think of a better way to account for each team's talent or success than an existing secret formula: the Sagarin Ratings, which, for the unindoctrinated, is a formula concocted by statistician Jeff Sagarin that ranks the strength of every Division I basketball team. Our Sagarin Factor is the sum of both team's average Sagarin rating over the last 10 seasons, divided by 10.

Then, we looked at each team's performance in the NCAA Tournament over the last 10 years, and assigned a value to each round a team advanced in the tournament (one point for a first-round win, two for second-round win and so on). The figures for each team were added and then divided by 10. That number was added to the Sagarin number, which was then divided by two. The purpose of the final division was to reduce the net effect of Y on each rivalry's composite score.

History Factor
As with both X and Y, we looked at the previous 10 years' contests. The purpose of History was to account for any major match-ups that took place over the last decade, as well as the proximity of the campuses to one another, which is obviously a part of the rivalry's history.

For Scaled Matchups we looked at every game between the teams over the last 10 years and each team's poll ranking at the time (if ranked). A value (ranging from 1-6) was assigned to each individual matchup based on the lower (worse) ranking of the respective teams. These scaled matchup values were totaled, then divided by 10. Critical Matchups refers to any meetings that took place in a conference tournament or the NCAA Tournament. Proximity Factor is a scaled value based on the actual distance between the two campuses.

Finally, X, Y and Z are added to give each pair a Rivalry Factor. And just before our heads exploded, we put all the numbers in the machine and let it spit out the results. Don't blame us -- blame our high school math teachers.