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The SEC is not a substitute for a quality athletic program. Old Miss, Miss St., Vandy ect... aren't dominating recruiting even though they are in the SEC.

This is where I think the argument is interesting, it is a relatively new phenomenon. When was the last time current high school prospects remember a time when the SEC wasn't dominant? Current high school juniors were in elementary school when Vince Young beat USC. They basically don't remember the half decade before that when the Big XII South was pretty much unanimously considered best division in college football year in and year out. They are all in the Internet Generation. ESPN, video games, Tebow, Cam Newton, Honey Badger, these topics of discussion are permeating nationally at a rate that has never existed prior to right now. It will be interesting to see if the SEC's dominance continues. You would like to believe things are cyclical, but at some point the SEC's dominance could sort of become a self fulfilling prophecy. Vanderbilt might not be better than Baylor or Iowa State, but they might be given the benefit of the doubt because of perceived ability.

It is interesting. The wild card in this is all the Mexicans. In less than a decade, there will be more last names that end in EZ in Texas than anything else. It will be interesting to see how the population shift and wealth shift among people that traditionally have no loyalty or legacies to collegiate athletics affects college football.