Right, because
1) They have the best football teams
2) You don't have to participate academically
That being said, if you want to be on the national stage, you're better off at Ohio State than any SEC team not named Alabama. The fact is there are no surprises in college football. Everyone knows everything about every player by the time the draft rolls around.
I'm interested to see what happens if there's a consortium of non-SEC conferences, because the Big Ten and Pac 12 are still more influential big picture than the SEC.