Poor, little Mississippi.

Or so the rest of the nation seems to think of the state just to the south of us here in Memphis.

Poor, little Mississippi.

First in blues singers -- most of whom long-ago headed north, on hope's dusty heels, in search of a better life -- and last in everything else.

Is there a state more often dismissed? Is there a state more roundly ridiculed?

But then again, is there a state with more reasons to be feeling good about itself this week?

Let's look at college polls and count the reasons.

One Mississippi school.

Two Mississippi schools.

Three Mississippi schools.

For the first time in the history of the AP poll, the state's three NCAA Division 1-A teams are in the Top 25 - Mississippi State (6-0) is No. 12, Ole Miss (5-1) is No. 22 and Southern Mississippi (3-2) is No. 25.

That's more than Texas, more than Tennessee. Only Florida, with a population of almost 15 million, has as many teams in the poll as Mississippi, home to some 2.7 million.

"I feel like our talent compares with anybody," said Dr. Ennis Proctor, executive director of the Mississippi High School Activities Association, which governs the prep programs that produce the talent that make those college teams go.

"For our state size, I think our talent is just as good as anybody's."

OK, OK, you say. That's all very nice. But what in the name of higher education do good football teams have to do with a state being a truly better place?

Actually, more than you might think.

Ask Proctor why Mississippi produces so many talented football players, and his answer tells much more.

"There's a lot of pride in the high schools," said Proctor, 57 and a Mississippian of more than three decades. "The communities are based around the school. They're interested in how the kids are doing, and how the schools are doing."

He paused and added, "That's the way it used to be all over the country."

Proctor talks of increased participation and "overflow" crowds. He talks of civic pride and how the state's poor national image is more "bum rap" than anything else.

He said, "Mississippi's a fine state with a lot of good people. ... We've got a lot of pride in our state."

Oh, other states are flourishing in bigger and so-called better ways. Other states have major league teams and the nation's full attention.

Mississippi's AP poll trio, then, may go unnoticed - or be overshadowed by Florida's, with No. 1 Florida State, No. 7 Florida and No. 24 Miami.

It may be dismissed -- much as any other good news out of Mississippi would be -- as a fluke.

A fluke, it's not.

Take Mississippi State, which is the defending SEC Western Division champion. Or Southern Miss, a Conference USA power with back-to-back bowl seasons. Or Ole Miss, a program attractive enough to have lured its head coach, David Cutcliffe, from his offensive coordinator's position with Tennessee, the reigning national champ.

Cutcliffe on this week's Top 25 poll: "I think it says a lot about our high school talent in our state. And the junior college league is another source of strength and recruiting in this state.

"Those are reasons, year in and year out, all three of us can have good, solid football teams."

This week -- this season, so far -- they are better than good and solid. They're among the very best.

To a nation caught unaware: No, the trouble is not in your AP football poll.

You really are seeing triple.

(David Williams writes for The Commercial Appeal in Memphis.)