MUAHA! That's actually not a bad thing.
I think the SEC is benefiting from essentially a closed system of scheduling (as one poster said "incestuous" - great use of the term on so many levels!).
SEC teams feast on OOC cupcakes with 1 or 2 bigger names thrown in, and the lower half of their own conference. Rack up impressive records and then hit those "big" inter-conference rivalry games where the teams involved basically push as far as national rankings are concerned. The games are typically competitive since they see each other every year, attend the same clinics/camps, go after the same recruits, etc. It always looks like a tough game.
Now you try to translate that to the national stage and here's where the SEC "mystique" comes from, I think. They have an impressive record in post season bowls, and the reason that's the case, IMHO, is simply a matter of numbers and matchups. Each year for the past 5 years the SEC has had the largest representation in all bowls. Seems to me the formula for the SEC is pretty simple - send as many teams as possible to post-season play. That amounts to a huge level of visibility and skews perception.
The SEC has done well in bowls for the last decade (6-4, 5-5 ,and 6-3 in the last 3 years) but I think that's indicative of the way they schedule. It's a bit easier for SEC teams to make 6 wins and become bowl eligible, and thus represent the conference a bit better, when FCS teams are a regular snack. Last year, the SEC sent 10 teams to bowls and came out 5-5. Impressive when you consider the next largest representation from a conference (the Big-12 and B1G who sent 8) both went 3-5.
Keeping in mind that a large number of bowls are played in SEC stadiums, that may account for the slightly above .500 (but that's just speculation).
If you look at the SEC record vs OOC during the regular season, though, it's a slightly different but similar picture. SEC fans like to look at the whole OOC record which is impressive statistically.
Since 2005 the SEC is 273-109 OOC. An impressive .710.
However, if you drop all the mid-conferences and just look at the AQ's, that record becomes 91-74. A good, but not impressing .550.
As they say, perception is reality. The SEC is a good football conference, but they are absolutely masterful when it comes to PR.
I'll leave ESPN/SEC conspiracies out of this conversation (though considering the BCS was founded by Roy Kramer, the chairman of the SEC at the time it's hard to overlook).
Good post IrishNOLA, agree with the majority of what you say about the SEC. By the way, go West Monroe in the Louisiana high school playoffs.
