[OutsiderFan]

Any team you play every year has to be considered a rival, but there are degrees, like:

1. Are your games meaningful in the context of settling championships?

It’s all personal taste of course, but I would state that a true rival is one for whom the games are meaningful even when they have nothing to do with settling championships. 

Further, I’d say one can’t figure out who is a rival by counting numbers in a spread sheet. It’s something you gotta feel in your bones.

Truth be told, other than Cal - whom I root for equally as Stanford - I have no love for any of the teams Stanford plays annually. I have no love for any Pac-12 programs not named Cal or Stanford, but some of them I like more than others.  My assigning a number to the various variables that make one a rival is actually to help me sort them out based on some objective assessing.  But I'll admit, it can be fluid based on the ups and downs of programs.  USC is public enemy number one for me and always will be. They should really be in their own category. The rest are not nearly as contemptible, but I still don't like them very much.

Sure, Washington and Stanford have had some close games lately, but historically, they haven't, and Washington and Stanford really only last season were on par with each other in a meaningful game, and that was the first one I can ever remember Stanford winning.

Cal has the potential to be the greatest Stanford rival, but they have not carried their end of the bargain for quite a while.

[OutsiderFan]

Any team you play every year has to be considered a rival, but there are degrees, like:

1. Are your games meaningful in the context of settling championships?

It’s all personal taste of course, but I would state that a true rival is one for whom the games are meaningful even when they have nothing to do with settling championships. 

Further, I’d say one can’t figure out who is a rival by counting numbers in a spread sheet. It’s something you gotta feel in your bones.

Truth be told, other than Cal - whom I root for equally as Stanford - I have no love for any of the teams Stanford plays annually. I have no love for any Pac-12 programs not named Cal or Stanford, but some of them I like more than others.  My assigning a number to the various variables that make one a rival is actually to help me sort them out based on some objective assessing.  But I'll admit, it can be fluid based on the ups and downs of programs.  USC is public enemy number one for me and always will be. They should really be in their own category. The rest are not nearly as contemptible, but I still don't like them very much.

Sure, Washington and Stanford have had some close games lately, but historically, they haven't, and Washington and Stanford really only last season were on par with each other in a meaningful game, and that was the first one I can ever remember Stanford winning.

Cal has the potential to be the greatest Stanford rival, but they have not carried their end of the bargain for quite a while.