Guess I'm old fashioned, I will always root for an SEC team. Always.
That's not old fashioned; a lot of fans are like that.
I'm not one of them.
I know a lot of young people who have strong conference loyalty and a lot of oldsters who couldn't care less about other SEC teams, and that has been true form the late 60s through today. Had either Oregon or K State not lost, and ND had not won, I would would have rooted for either of them against any SEC team other than Tennessee. I root for a team by how much I like the teams involved, regardless of conference tie. For instance, I was rooting hard for UF over FSU and South Carolina over Clemson, and I probably always will. But, I would root for almost any team over bama. And, when they play someone like Miami, I just don't care and won't watch or root for either team. I learned my lesson. I rooted for bama twice and they lost both, and I felt
dirty afterward.
BTW, I'd pull for ND against any team other than Tennessee too.
Go Irish!