I think this committee uses "eye test" more than they care to admit. Based on that eye test, I can't find fault with the ranking.
However, I'm sorry, as things stand today, we have a better resume than many of the teams ahead of us. Our loss is to a 2-loss MSU who's 2 losses are to current top 10 teams (their only "quality win" would be against us). 3-loss Miami is our significant win.
Here's where I believe we can make a claim, and am surprised that even non-SEC media don't give this more play: Look at the SEC west by itself. Outside of beating each other, who have THEY really beaten?
If memory servers,
Bama's only significant win is over 3-loss WVU (who beat no one significant out of conference),
LSU's significant out of conference win is over 2-loss Wisconsin (who beat no one significant out of conference),
Ole Miss has a good win against 1-loss Boise St (who beat no one significant out of conference)
Miss St beat no one significant out of conference. (UAB best win?)
Auburn beat 2-loss @Kansas St out of conference and no one else. Kansas St has no out of conference significant win.
A&M's beat no one significant out of conference. (ULM is best win?)
Arkansas best win is 2-loss Northern Illinois.
Off top of my head, the only other significant out of conference SEC victory is Georgia beating Clemson.
My point is that the best objective "SEC West is so awesome" argument is based off of Auburn beating Kansas St (who played no one out of conference) and then perhaps Ole Miss' victory over Boise St (has a good win over another 1-loss Colorado St).
Then throw in the Big12. What are the significant wins for the Big12 out of conference? The only one I can think of is TCU over 2-loss Minnesota (who, again, has beaten no one significant out of conference).
What this tells me is that these rankings, as much as we hoped would be WAY more objective than the media/coaches polls, appears to fall into the same traps. Rankings are based on past years' performances, recruiting rankings, personal bias, and where the media slots these teams at the beginning of the year.
I hoped this committee looked at things more analytically than using the "eye test" or prejudged number in front of a team's name. The only positive difference I'm seeing is that, if records are equal, they will give preference to current conference leaders, thus eliminating much of the ability to stick multiple teams from one conference in the top 4.
/rant