We get penalized for being in the best conference.
You know why the SEC is the strongest conference? Because SEC teams consistently schedule and beat the "big boys" of the other P5's. Bama played Texas, Tennessee played Pittsburgh, Georgia played Oregon. And Bama and Tennessee went to Texas and Pitt, they weren't home games. And the SEC consistently wins (most) of the big games.
So, not only do we know the SEC is better than the other conferences because we go head to head with them each year, but then we sort through our own conference, which ALWAYS has more ranked teams than any other (because we beat the other conferences).
But yet, you want to tell me that a TCU team who wins a "Big 12" championship is better than a Tennessee team who beat multiple ranked teams, and whose strength of schedule is tougher than anyone else with 1 loss, and that one loss being to Georgia on their Turf by 2 TDs?
No way. The SEC consistently goes out of their way to schedule big games against the powerhouses of the respective conferences. And when push comes to shove, it doesn't matter. It'd be better for us to move to the Big 12 and go undefeated, and not play anyone.
This will (mostly) be settled once the playoffs expand, but the other conferences are just no match to the SEC from top to bottom.