My thoughts have always been there really is no gap...more of a bias that was self fulfilling. If sec played nine conference games and didn't schedule cream puff noncon games in November, it would be more apparent there hasn't been a gap.
The reward for those top two teams is to play the 16th and 15th ranked teams in first round. Again, zero reason for bye in a 16-team bracket. Oregon would have played Clemson, Georgia would have played South Carolina.