As November beckons, the always enjoyable conversation which unfolds when you start ranking conferences goes something like this: the SEC is still the best, but not as good as before. There is no undefeated Alabama juggernaut, the team claiming victory over the Tide lost to Memphis, and only a single SEC East team is ranked. The S&P+ rankings allude to this idea, with the SEC holding off the ACC as the nation's best league.
Throughout the SEC's decade of dominance we've been waiting for a year when cannibalism emerged as the dominant theme. It was last seen in 2007, but ignored because it wasn't unique (and the SEC still won the BCS title).