Mississippi wins the state popularity award

In meeting people here, I've had some trouble describing where North Carolina (/UNC) is...

"I feel like I've heard of it [UNC]. Didn't somebody famous go there?"

M: "Michael Jordan did. He played basketball there. We're a big basketball school."

"Yeah... I guess it was him." [No recognition face]

"Where is it [NC]?"

M: "It's on the east coast, in the middle, just south of Virginia."

"Oh, yeah! I know Virginia!! My sister lived there. It's below it?"

M: "Do you watch One Tree Hill? Or Dawson's Creek when it was on?"

"Oh yeah!"

M: "They were filmed in North Carolina."

"Okay...."

But there's no problem when people ask me where I went to law school in the states. It usually goes like this:

"Where did you go to law uni?"

"Ole Miss... it's in Mississippi."

"OH YEAH! I know it! It's in the movie The Blind Side."

Without fail, everybody I have met from all over the world knows Ole Miss from The Blind Side. Hotty Toddy!

Now, if there were only some big blockbuster based on North Carolina, it would make my life much easier....