Oh the heartland! I love my friend Bill Simmons, in his article, concerning baseball, he speaks of how Midwestern teams are now vastly superior to their coast counterparts. But, I do not think he goes far enough. Let us consider all sports.
Football Well, the division has been a little weak, but, it is only because of underperformance. The AFC North is an amazing division, Cincinnati is a very amazing team, and (yes Pittsburg...is part of the Midwest) could have been an amazing team, again. Chicago is the best team in the NFC, and Kansas City, well they got LJ. Lastly let us not forget the venerable Indianapolis, always a Super Bowl contender (although they always choke).
In football, it is true, the AFC west is amazing, but Kansas city, a team that is part of the division, is technically in the Midwest. Oh, yeah the AFC east, home of the Patriots... sucks. The NFc south is pretty good this year though.
Baseball Well Bill Simmons talks all about it. Home of the 2005 and the 2006 world series champions, the AL and NL central are the toughest division in baseball. With the Twins, Chicago and my Tigers, the Al central is almost unstoppable. Detroit embarrassed New York and Oakland, the East's and West's best. While St. Louis beat the Mets, a year long favorite.
College Football The most winning team in college football history, Michigan, the second most winning team in football Notre Dame, and this year's powerhouse, Ohio State all reside in the Midwest. Let us not also forget Penn State, Wisconsin and Iowa.
I know I know, what about the SEC? Yeah they are good, but they are also overhyped. The Big Ten is powerful, and OSU and Michigan seem to always deliver. USC, is very good, but they are an anomaly in the PAC 10.
Basketabll You may have read my post about how horrible the Eastern Division is this year. But still, the only good teams in the east, reside in the Midwest. Detroit , Indiana and Cleveland.