smoke and mirrors.  For example, I remember one crazy stat from a few years ago that some team like UF or something had only played one game more than 500 miles away from their home site in a 10 year stretch or something insane like that.  Most SEC schools are very, very hesitant to leave their home states to play a game.

They play 7-8 home games a year.  Remember, crazy things can happen when you travel far from home.  Anyone recall #1 Miami rolling into Provo and what happened there?  The SEC schools have often refused to take those chances.

Another good example is middling UVA completely destroying South Carolina in the bowl game last year. 

The disparity is not as great as they would have you believe.