As a Buckeye fan I obviously think they got it wrong because I can't see how anyone could say that Alabama was "unequivocally" better than Ohio State. Better I can see, but unequivocally, I just don't get it and they had to find Alabama unequivocally better or Ohio State would have gone as a conference champion (the main tie breaker).
Alabama beat 2 ranked teams, LSU at home which finished 17th and has a loss to Troy and Mississippi State who finished ranked 23rd. It lost to the 7th ranked team by double digits. Any time Alabama played a true road game against a mediocre or better team it struggled. It beat A&M by just 8, beat MSU by just 7 after trailing much of the game, and then lost at Auburn. This isn't the powerhouse Alabama of prior years, and the SEC on the whole was pretty bad this year. Outside of the top 3 teams, it was Just a train wreck of a conference filled with mediocre coaches and mediocre teams (which is why half the conference is looking for coaches).
Obviously OSU's loss at Iowa was a disaster and the reason OSU is out, but the committee has consistently favored victories to losses and OSU has 2 top ten victories i.e. Wisconsin at 6 and Penn State at 9 in addition to 16th ranked Michigan State. In other words, 3 victories over teams higher ranked than Alabama's best win. And while that Iowa game was a disaster, it was the week after the Penn State game and on the road. The SEC supporters are quick to point out the let down after a tough game (i.e. Auburn losing at Georgia because of the Alabama game), but seem to ignore it for other conferences (PSU also lost the week after the OSU game). And Iowa didn't have a great season, but did beat Iowa St. on the road (remember they are OU's only loss) and basically only lost to ranked teams (Iowa really got the scheduling shaft playing not just OSU, but also PSU and MSU from the East).