Arkansas-Auburn is this year’s best example. Auburn is looked upon as a great team, so Arkansas was credited with a good loss. That led to Arkansas also being considered a great team, meaning that Auburn gets more credit for beating a team that was almost good enough to beat Auburn.

It's a fun phenomenon that applies to the SEC and no other conference. Every team is great, thus every win is against a great team and every loss is against a great team. That way, each game, no matter the result, bolsters the resume of both teams.

It’s also important to recognize the Utah Memorial Bowl Corollary, under which any loss in a non-playoff bowl game does not count because the SEC team isn't playing for anything.