Honestly, this "SEC Pride" stuff is just for arguments sake. A lot of non-SEC fans hate our conference because we have been on top for so long. Naturally, we hear the hate spewed from these fans and talking heads and deep down inside, it makes us mad and this in turn makes a lot of fans within the SEC root for other SEC teams in games against OOC opponents. Why does this happen? Because being competitive means that you want the SEC to win to shut the haters up.
However, I personally don't get caught up into that crap. As long as the Tide win, I could care less what anyone else does in this country, much less the SEC. Every SEC team can lose and I wont care as long as the Tide win.
Im just saying that I fully understand where this "SEC Pride" is coming from. Its not that fans are "SEC Fans" and not fans of a single team, its just that some fans of certain SEC teams feel the need to band together come Bowl season and root for anything/everything SEC so that the haters out there will shut up. So in a way, its a game within a game. I find it funny at times because it seems like fans outside of the SEC see the SEC as being a single team or something. There is a deep seeded hatred for the three letters "SEC" in some parts. For example, if a single SEC team loses to an OOC opponent, then people will say "SEC is overrated" instead of saying "Ole Miss is overrated" - It breeds a lot of ignorant comments like that and that's why I never get caught up in it because its silly. The haters will use any and all kinks against the SEC. OMG VANDERBILT JUST LOST TO THE CITADEL! THIS MEANS THE SEC IS OVERRATED!
Arizona lost to Boise State, the Pac10 is overrated! (See how stupid that sounds?) Well, we get a lot of that being fans of an SEC team and being in the SEC.
At the end of the day, it just means that the team lost, not the damn Conference.