It always goes in cycles.
15 years ago, Miami (Fla) was like Bama is today; great all time team, crap conference. Meanwhile, the Big 12 at the time was viewed as the deepest conference, with Oklahoma & Texas always preseason top 5 with their game being seen as a BCS qualifier. Plus you had Nebraska, Texas Tech, A&M, and Kansas State always causing trouble during the same time period.