With the SEC (Southeastern Conference) boasting a modest 3 teams ranked in the top 5 and another team sitting at #7, you have to wonder how they accumulate all of this talent. Recruiting, recruiting, recruiting! Here is a list of the average recruiting budgets over the last 3 seasons.

Tennessee: $1,154,802      Auburn: $705,125            LSU: $662,772

Florida: $599,818                 Georgia: $521,174          Arkansas: $499,578

Ole Miss: $410,608              Kentucky: $307,571        Miss. State: $286,467

Alabama: $285,649             S. Carolina: $273,909     Vanderbilt: N/A

Vanderbilt did not disclose expenses

You can see by Rivals rankings over those 3 years it was money well spent. You may say recruiting rankings are subjective and overrated. Well, in National Championship games over those 3 seasons the SEC is 3-0. Look for this trend to continue after the conference signed a lucrative 15-year TV deal with ESPN.

2009                        2008                         2007

#1   Bama               #1   Bama               #1 Florida

#2   LSU                  #3   Florida            #3  Tennessee

#6   Georgia           #7   Georgia          #7  Auburn

#10 Tennessee     #11   LSU              #9  Georgia

#11 Florida                                            #10 Alabama

What helps the SEC the most aside from recruiting is having 2-3 strong teams on each side of the conference unlike the Big 12. It is a huge factor for their strength of schedule. Now that many of the perennial top teams like Ohio State, USC, and Oklahoma already have a loss I definitely see the SEC champion in the National Championship game for a fourth straight year.