[Mick]

Cal #1.

What hurts more? Cal first on Forbes or a possible Big Game loss?

Good for Cal. 
Of course, it's all pretty meaningless.
As was the case all those years that Stanford was atop the USN&WR "rankings."  
Just agenda, cloaked in supposed measurable indicia of "greatness."

Whatever.
Does anyone really care about these various publications/rankings?  And if so . . . why?

Very few.  University presidents.  Faculty.  Students.  Alumni.  High school students.  That's all...

I think they care about them for a variety of reasons.  Because they're trying to attract and retain the best and brightest students, and this is one public, easy way to delineate between schools, using a variety of sensical and nonsensical criteria.  But most of all for bragging rights.

[Mick]

Cal #1.

What hurts more? Cal first on Forbes or a possible Big Game loss?

Good for Cal. 
Of course, it's all pretty meaningless.
As was the case all those years that Stanford was atop the USN&WR "rankings."  
Just agenda, cloaked in supposed measurable indicia of "greatness."

Whatever.
Does anyone really care about these various publications/rankings?  And if so . . . why?

Very few.  University presidents.  Faculty.  Students.  Alumni.  High school students.  That's all...

I think they care about them for a variety of reasons.  Because they're trying to attract and retain the best and brightest students, and this is one public, easy way to delineate between schools, using a variety of sensical and nonsensical criteria.  But most of all for bragging rights.