re: What if Petrino had stayed at Arkansas?

The SWC was as strong as the SEC or any other conference, it is just that you couldn't find a conference that was as strong as the SEC top to bottom right now. Teams go in cycles and don't remain on top forever. The bowl records between the conferences from the foundation of those conferences to 1969 was a one to two game difference in the SEC favor and certainly not the dominance of SEC or fans keep echoing that the SWC sucks. We played teams that were ranked in the SWC and it was by no means the sunbelt conference.

When the 70s and 80s started coming around, a lot of cheating was coming around and back when the NCAA actually enforced the rules, they punished teams with severe probation or the death penalty.