The SEC will always be the dominant conference. And will always have the best players due to the "Oversigning Rule" they voted in 2011. This has been instrumental in superior recruiting for the last 10-11 years. (About the time that the SEC started their dominance)
Now if you dont know what this is its the ability to over recruit (NIL) National Letters of Intent (We will use Bama as an example not that I dislike Alabama but because everyone want to play for a NC every year and Bama is the best place to do it right now) In other words they recruit and sign 25 extra players to NIL than teams in other conferences. Thats 25 more top players taken off the recruiting board so that other colleges cant sign. Bama uses tryouts and chooses the best of the recruits. Now this is the part that really irks me. On the final day they submit their given scholarships to the NCAA and 25 kids get cut that signed NIL to Alabama. What happens to these 3-4-5 star players that didnt make the cut? These are good enough players they could probably play for any D1 school. They cant go to another D1 team its too late they have to wait for next year for the next signing period or transfer opportunity to garner a spot on another D1 team or take another shot at Bama. So what happens to them?? Well Ole Nick just cuts some of them lose and they can still go to Jr College or NAIA. The best of them, Bama contacts their own network of Jr Colleges to take certain players that may be of use to them in the future. And there are always a few that are just shit outta luck. Highly ranked and recruited players that are just out in the cold and have no scholarship to play anywhere (unless they are eligible for a merit based scholarship which is unlikely) because they banked everything on Bama and didnt make it. Most of the kids are clueless. they signed a NIL that was accepted and thought they would be on the field for Bama in a year or two when they graduate from high school. They dont know about the SEC oversigning rule and their parents didnt either. The have been many stories about this and even some abuse of the rule (Les Miles at LSU and Steve Spurrier at South Carolina who thought that 25 wasnt enough and signed 32). Saban has had arguments with reporters when they bring asking if he thinks the rule is unethical it up so its a touchy subject and ESPN reporters that want to keep their jobs wont even think of bringing it up (SEC/ESPN) broadcast contracts.
The most talented players will always win. When you have more than anyone else it insures you can field a better team than the one across the sidelines. Bama started its climb by winning the 2009 NC but it wasnt until 2011 that they began to dominate and lead the nation in recruiting year after year. But oversigning is nothing new to Bama. Alabama's oversigning history dates back to the 20s a decade before the SEC was formed. In 1941, William Bradford Huie wrote an article for Colliers Weekly Magazine documenting the Crimson Tide's oversigning tactics