The real story here is what has happened with the SEC during the BCS era.
In 2004 Auburn got the shaft and Oklahoma got beat down by USC (a USC team that would have drummed everyone that year). However, Auburn fans, and SEC fans in general, started a campaign that the SEC is the step child of the national sporting media. There was a movement among most SEC schools that the national media WILL respect the SEC and their teams.
The backlash culminated in what we have today. The SEC as a whole is wildly dominant in every aspect of the game (recruiting, bowls, records, players in the NFL, coaching, championships). I'm not arguing variables of those stats/numbers because that's neither here nor there. The fact is that those numbers support the SEC.
The backlash started by the SEC against the national media and the "other" fans of CFB in general vaulted the SEC to where it is today. The fans of the schools supported their team first, but the conference second. It created an environment where SEC schools have fans of the school, and proponents of the conference. That's why it's not like that anywhere else in D-1 football.
Now there is a counter-backlash of sorts where the rest of the nation is getting sick and tired of hearing about the SEC. Saban, Miles, Richt, Spurrier, the up-and-comer coaches, their staffs, and the largely successful ADs/presidents of the SEC schools won't be around forever. They will trip, and the SEC dominance will end. Whenever that happens, you'll have your NDs, Michigans, OSUs, FSUs, USCs, Oklahomas winning again. All will return to what it was before the SEC dominance. The talent will spread out again.
I think of it this way...
The entire southeast started chanting SEC back in 2004 when Auburn had to sit at home. The chant grew louder and louder each year since. With every win over another opponent (especially the Big Ten, SEC fans HATE the Big Ten)(and Notre Dame) the chant grew louder.
2006: Florida over Ohio State (SEC fans LOVED beating on of the Big Ten's flagship teams)
2007: LSU did it to OSU again, take that Big Ten
2008: Florida's defense quashed Stoops proud offense. This is the reason that Stoops is so upset. I think that he believes if they could play again that his great offense would actually hang with or defeat that same Florida team.
2009: Alabama defeats the other BigXII flagship, the Texas Longhorns.
2010: This is the SEC nearing the peak of their dominance. Auburn, who had to sit at home half a decade earlier, utilizes a ridiculous loophole to pretty much buy the best player in the land to lead them to a championship. Did a lot of people turn a blind eye? Yes. Does the NCAA want to absolutely NAIL Auburn/Cam? Yes. However, Auburn got their championship that they felt they outright earned in 2004. They did it over a new and exciting Oregon team, albeit by way of rolling-tackle-no-tackle on Dyer.
2011: The apex of the SEC reign, in my opinion. If Auburn's championship didn't feed the SEC hunger a year earlier, LSU-Bama definitely would. This was a HUGE turning point for the SEC timeline that I'm speaking on. Before 2011, there were still PLENTY (there still are a few) of SEC fans that thought the national media was still biased against the conference. They were still so upset about the general negative opinion on the conference by ESPN and other media outlets years and years before.
2011 was the first year that it was blatantly obvious to any neutral third party fan that there truly was an SEC bias. "They don't respect us as a conference!" by pro-SEC common fans was suddenly turned into "Respect us, we're the SEC!" by conference blowhards.
The "S-E-C! S-E-C! S-E-C!" chant used to be a common ground that most fans of the conference could meet on to express their support for a conference that didn't get the national media blowjobs that other conferences got.
In 2011 it turned into chant that conference fans used to rub their dominance in everyone's face. People got sick of it.
The rest of the nation went from saying "The SEC is impressive and fierce" to saying "The SEC is annoying as fukk."
2012 Bama dominated Notre Dame, the fans got to chant "S-E-C" but it wasn't as important or symbolic.
Now everyone just wants the SEC to shut up and get over it already. And a lot of fans of SEC teams have forgotten what the "S-E-C" movement was about in the first place. It was about earning respect and demonstrating the dominance that most SEC fans felt that their team could bring forth. It was also about proving that the SEC had the most loyal and hardcore fans. Now it's turned into everyone rubbing the SEC dominance in other fans' faces and saying "We're the best! Wah!"
