Where is the respect that we deserve?

So I’m just sitting here watching the West Virginia vs Louisville college football game. Its turning out to be a great game between a 3rd ranked team against a 5th ranked team and I can wait to see who ends up winning. Then I think to myself, are any of these teams better then Wisconsin???? Of course not!! Although Wisconsin is ranked 17th (due to a loss they received earlier this season), i think they could easily beat either team right now. Then I realized something that I see every year in both college basketball and college football: Midwestern schools are ALWAYS underrated, and East/West coast schools are ALWAYS ranked higher when the preseason rankings are made. However when the season ends, these Midwestern schools always beat up on the favorite East/West coast schools. Now I’ll give credit to where credit is due; there are some good schools out on the coasts, and they are usually ranked correctly.

Now I’m sure most of you don’t care, but here is the problem: the people who create these rankings are sports writers/analysts from the USA Today/ESPN and the Associated Press. All of which come from either the N.Y., Boston, or L.A. area. I’m sure the Midwest often goes unnoticed and unrepresented outside of sports as well, but I can’t think of any examples off the top of my head. In addition, Midwestern journalists probably get overlooked as well. Which is unfortunate, considering there are many great journalists coming out of Midwestern colleges. Will we see a shift in power from the coasts to the inland area in the future??? Being a JMC major I sure as hell hope so!!