The Blue Board

conference pride, yo

"my team lost to a better team in our conference, so i will root for them to mask my disappointment in my teams failures so that i can feel better about my team losing to the eventual champs, cuz ya know, that makes us better"

That is not it at all. Another champion from the conference would just increase the perception of the strength of the SEC. It also forces other member schools to better their respective programs inorder to remain competetive in conference.

Id rather pull for a team we do battle with throughout the year than some unknown team from out West. It has as much to do with familiarity as anything else. If Arkansas would have won on Friday I would be pulling for the Razorbacks simply because I have watched us play them 6 times this year. I know who is on their roster and I know what they are capable of. I didnt see an Arizona game all year until their game with FSU. Ive never been to Arizona. I just dont identify with that team at all (or any west coast team for that matter). Nothing wrong with pulling for your SEC brethren.