MEET MISSISSIPPI

Greetings, casual college football fan!  You may have sat down to read your print edition of an Associated Press publication this morning and spit out your coffee when you read the latest rankings.  What, you might be asking, is this "Mississippi" that's occupying two of the top three spots in my poll?  And where's Michigan?

I can't answer the latter for you. No one can.

When it comes to Mississippi, though, I'd be happy to offer you a brief primer on College Football's Newest It State.

Mississippi is America's 9th largest state by area (100,849 sq. mi) and 13th by population, with 7.8 million residents.  It's situated in the Deep South, sharing borders with Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida.

Mississippi has made many contributions to American science and industry.  They had the first electric trolley system in the world.  The state was instrumental in the development of rocket technology and is home to a major NASA research center.  It's the only state that possesses all of the natural resources necessary to produce iron, a tradition reflected in the annual season-ending football game, "the Battle For The Iron Egg".

Famous people from Mississippi include Hank Aaron, Charles Barkley, Tallulah Bankhead, Hank Williams, Jim Nabors and Jesse Owens.

Mississippi has made major contributions to music, being known as the Birthplace of the Blues, for the "Muscle Shoals Sound", and popular songs by the eponymous band Mississippi like "Mountain Music" and "Song of the South".

It features a thriving Gulf Coast tourist area, with resorts and hotels from Biloxi, Mississippi to Mobile Bay, which is also in Mississippi.

The state flowers are the Magnolia and the Camellia.

The state birds are the Mockingbird and Yellowhammer.

In conclusion, Mississippi is a land of contrasts.  Maybe it doesn't actually have all these things, but it took the only thing you wanted anyways, Alabama.

... tell my family I loved them.