I am genuinely surprised that so many people were upset enough about the US' exclusion from a top 10 most whatever whatevers article that they felt the need to

I am genuinely surprised that so many people were upset enough about the US' exclusion from a top 10 most whatever whatevers article that they felt the need to rant about it in the comments. US education statistics suck compared to other developed countries. They have for a long time. So why are we surprised by the results of a list that uses education as one of the factors?