No Respect for the Mountain West?

While there are two WAC teams in the Top-25, no MWC teams can be found.

A sign of disrespect? A symptom of the lack of TV exposure? (Although there is a rumor that the Mtn. network is narrowcast to certain remote parts of the eastern Utah desert.)

The leaders of the MWC are 7-2 BYU, 7-3 Utah, 8-3 Air Force, and 7-3 New Mexico. Not good enough of a record for an AP ranking? Then why do we find three-loss teams like Florida, Illinois, Tennessee, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Connecticut all in the rankings?

You certainly can't fault the MWC competition for whom they lost to. BYU didn't lose to Appalachian State. Utah wasn't thumped by an unranked Cal.

What about the quality of the wins? Wyoming of the MWC solidly beat #16 Virginia. Even cellar-dweller UNLV nearly beat #24 Wisconsin. The difference is that the MWC teams have lost to MWC competition (although BYU went out of their way to lose to a solid Tulsa team and a remarkably inconsistent UCLA).

While MWC teams get damaged during conference play and are ceremoniously ignored by the voters, the SEC, ACC, and even the Big Ten (or is it 11?) receive accolades.

Perhaps it's the lack of quality teams in the MWC. A legitimate criticism? Let's look at the data. 

The strength of schedule ("SOS") of the MWC leaders is nothing to scream about. BYU is ranked at #65. Utah comes in at #53. Air Force and New Mexico both come in at #81 and #82.

However, when looking at those teams ranked above the MWC leaders, we find:

#3 Oklahoma with a touch #67 rating (worse than both BYU and Utah);
#4 Kansas screaming in at #77;
#7 Ohio State at #50;
#10 Virginia Tech at #44;
#13 Hawaii at #119 (yes, there are only 119 teams in Division 1-A);
#15 Clemson at #45;
#16 Virginia (clocked by Wyoming) at #62;
#17 Boise State at #109 (hey, at least it's better than Hawaii's!);
#18 Boston College at #49;
#20 Illinois at #54;
#21 Cincinnati at #47;
#24 Wisconsin at #66;
#25 Connecticut at #61.

(data courtesy of Congrove)

So both BYU and Utah have comparable or better records against comparable or better competition than Virginia, Illinois, Cincinnati, Wisconsin and Connecticut. And had these teams had the opportunity to play in the WAC sandbox, they would surely have records to match those of Hawaii or Boise State.

So why the disrespect? Do people just hate the MWC? Or is it because no one has seen these teams play on national television?