Cincinnati is definitely Midwest.

10 hours to the east coast and 32 hours to the west coast

The use of “Midwest” to describe Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, etc is an affront to logic

we always considered ourselves "Midwest." Granted, the term is East Coast-centric, and a throwback to an era when the Plains were considered "West" and anything from the Rockies to the Pacific the "Far West." But not all terminologies or classifications are recalibrated whenever logic changes with the times.

You must have really felt tortured when the Atlanta Falcons were in the NFC West while the Dallas Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals were in the NFC East.

high plains than mountains /topographically (albeit less so culturally).

I would have expected Chicago or Minneapolis to host too. Once they dropped out, I don’t think any other Midwest or Great Plains city was likely.

And Missouri is absolutely on the plains.