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PCI think Bob started with 1998 (the last 11 years) because the BCS system began in 1998.
Actually, if you look at the BCS bowl system as a whole, the SEC does not dominate, and actually performs below average for its size as a conference. For what follows, keep in mind that the SEC has 12 teams, as does the Big 12 and the ACC, whereas the Big-10 has 11 teams and the Pac-10 has 10 teams.
BCS BOWL GAME APPEARANCES:
Big 10 -- 19 appearances
SEC -- 17 appearances
Big 12 -- 16 appearances
ACC -- 15 appearances
Pac 10 -- 13 appearances
Let's break this down a little further. The Big 10's 19 BCS bowl appearances are spread across 7 different teams (from a total of 11 possible teams), so 64% of Big 10 teams have gone to BCS bowls.
The Pac 10 has the smallest pool of teams among the major conferences (10), so with 7 different teams going to BCS bowl games, that's 70% of the conference making at least one BCS appearance. The Big 12 has sent 7 of its 12 teams to BCS bowl games, which is 58%.
The SEC strength on this formula is the lowest of the major conferences, with only 6 of 12 teams ever having gone to a BCS bowl game. That's 50%.
While the SEC has played well in those bowl appearances, to say they are dominant is just not true. Anyone who understands the history of college football, and of the SEC in particular, knows that the SEC conference has ALWAYS been designed to promote a few teams, at the expense of all the others. And that's done by limiting travel to play major non-conference opponents, and playing more than half their games against weak conference opponents. If you doubt that, then just look at the pre-BCS system ... the SEC was basically Alabama's punching bag for 50 years (note that Florida had zero national championships before 1996, and LSU went 45 years before winning in 2003, and Tennessee went 47 years before winning in 1998).