I agree that the SEC is among the leading candidates to lay claim as the strongest conference every year based on the criteria that there are usually no fewer than six top tier teams: Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Auburn, and LSU. The problem though is that -- and I know there are exceptions such as the Eli-years at Ole Miss and Spurrier's building job at South Carolina, -- the other half of the conference (Vanderbilt, Kentucky, South Carolina, Mississippi, Mississippi State, and Arkansas) are typically dogs.
The problem with the SEC "we beat each other up" argument is that the conference has two divisions: Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida are in one, Auburn, Alabama, and LSU are in the other, so the odds that one of those teams will play each of the other five are rare. A second problem in the SEC inter-conference SOS theory is that in any given year, one or two of those traditional powers will be down, and of course, teams don't play themselves either.
In 2004, Auburn did not have to play Florida. Croyle was out for the game against Alabama as well. This left Auburn having to beat Georgia, LSU, and Tennessee (twice). I would add that despite Tennessee representing the eastern division, it was hardly a banner year for the Vols, who used three different QBs and beat a grand total of one team that had more than seven wins (Georgia), which includes their bowl opponent.
I don't see where this schedule is any more difficult than being Ohio State and catching Michigan, Penn State, Iowa and/or Wisconsin on an "up" year for the conference.
When one half of your conference foes are bottom-feeders, and another half of the conferences' good opponents implode, you'd better have some quality wins to show for it aside from UL-Monroe, Citadel, and Louisiana Tech.
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