I've been visiting HN for quite some time now and I track the stories that make the front page on a spreadsheet in Excel. I actually believe Jon uses a relatively simple formula for computing which stories from which sports get the best positioning.
I've computed the following variables for every story on HN since the site's independent launch: R, F, Q, U W, N, C, T, M, V, X, and I, where:
R = revenue generated by team that is focus of story, F = # of fans that actively follow that sport, Q = quality of opponent (if applicable), U = unexpectedness of event depicted, W = winning percentage of team in question for previous 5 seasons, N = final national ranking of team the previous year, C = capacity of the stadium/area in which the team competes, T = average # of tickets sold per home event, M = square inches of fabric required to construct the team's competition uniforms, V= number of vowels in coaching staff's last names, X = sex appeal of cheerleading/dance squads associated with the team, and I = perceived current level of interest in the story by visitors to HawkeyeNation.com.
The formula for prioritizing the stories, by my rough calculations, looks like this:
Rank = I
(where highest rank values are given the most prominent positions.)
