Sure they are SEC now but the SEC had very little to do with making them. They are the ones making the SEC relevant as they would whatever conference they were in.

I agree on Tx and OU though.

have the most seeds and many of the higher seeds then you are more likely to have more teams advance. It's a whole perpetual cycle at this point. The SEC (and media) talk up the conference and so they get preferential seeding and benefit of the doubt. This leads them to getting more teams in and having more teams advance. This in turn allows the conference and the media to talk about how "superior" they are... which leads to more seeds, etc. And round and round we go. This was the blueprint they used in football and it worked so they've moved to using it in other sports as well. And I'm not saying the SEC doesn't have good teams. I'm saying that the conference as a whole is often rated higher than it probably should be. Our regional is a prime example. Alabama should have probably had to come to Blacksburg. And if they played in a different conference (or the SEC didn't have the inflated reputation) they probably wouldn't have hosted. And if that's the case do they advance especially given the controversial replay calls in our first game. The SEC has done a phenomenal job marketing and selling its brand that's for sure.