<p>Whenever I hear CalTech mentioned at Stanford, it’s always accorded respect. I suppose people feel it’s too small to be regarded as a rival.</p>
<p>The USC rivalry seems to have gone from a mostly athletic rivalry up until about 10 years ago, to one that’s now both athletic and academic. Plus, there’s the issue of them both being large, private, wealthy California universities, in addition to the whole LA vs. SF thing.</p>