Damn one question and answer regarding what OM can offer that Bama can't and all hell breaks loose in this thread.

First of all, there's absolutely nothing wrong with anyone wanting to rep their own state and that goes double for smaller states which is most of the SEC and if you minus out flyover country only 3 SEC states have large populations. The rest of us are small or tiny. And some athletes benefit greatly from being close to home where their support systems are strong. It can make the shock of going from a small town or even a city a lot easier to know that friends, loved ones, mentors, and/or people who care about you as a person are close enough for you to lean on them or take a trip home if you need to or for them to hop in the car and come to you. The transition to college is difficult enough for regular students and athletes have their own set of issues to deal with and that is a huge benefit if a kid has a good support system.

On the flip side, there's nothing wrong with going out of state. In fact some kids need to. Some just need to be away in order to grow into their own person and/or see the world outside of their hometown. Others need to get away from from friends, acquaintances, and loved ones who'd drag them down, lead them into trouble and other problems if they stayed around. So there's a benefit there too.

For reference regarding population and why rep'n the state can be a pretty big draw for some:

Ginormous:
Texas 26,448,193 - 8.04% - est. 2013 national rank: 2
Florida 19,552,860 - 6.01% - est. 2013 national rank: 4
Georgia 9,992,167 - 3.10% - est. 2013 national rank: 8

Average for the SEC:
Tennessee 6,495,978 - 2.03%
Missouri 6,044,171 - 1.91%
Alabama 4,833,722 - 1.53%
South Carolina 4,774,839 - 1.48%
Louisiana 4,625,470 - 1.45%
Kentucky 4,395,295 - 1.39%

Tiny:
Mississippi 2,991,207 - 0.95%
Arkansas 2,959,373 - 0.93%

**Note the percentage listed is what each state contributes to the total US population**