I agree that there was a lot of whining last year about the B12 and there's no way the SEC should get 14 teams in. The SEC is so arrogant they probably think they deserve more than 14, but are tempering their own statements to get that low.
The SEC clearly had the best year of any conference this year, but their champion, Auburn, only beat ISU by 2 points. It's not like they are in an entirely different stratosphere than the B12. Out side the top 2-3 teams, I wouldn't be surprised to see the SEC really struggle in the tournament this year.