Stoops comments, which he has been making since before they were scheduled to play Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, is that the SEC isn't this super conference that is head and shoulders above all the other conferences. They've had some great teams at the top, but at the same time had their traditional patsies; Kentucky, Ole Miss, Miss St, Vanderbilt. Even Tennessee, based on your comments above.

Now, it was nice to see Ole Miss have a good year last year. But, at the same time, we see the same thing happening in the Big 12 with teams like Baylor, and to a lessor degree with Oklahoma State.

First, realize that Stoops has been talking about this for a year now; so there is plenty of context. And, you are not seeing his motivation; that much of his reasoning for it is that he is now having to compete for recruits against the SEC in Texas -- and the recruits keep hearing from ESPN how the SEC (to use a bit of hyperbole) should be in the NFL because they are so much better than any other college football conference.