Is ND more demanding academically than SEC schools? Sure, but that's not saying much. Most of the students there are qualified but players for their major sports, not so much.
Boston College is one of the few schools that holds their athletes to the same academic standards as non-athletes. Even if their recruiting suffers because of it.
There simply aren't enough top ranked high school recruits out there that are both academically elite and athletically elite to go around for all the schools.
My evidence is this ding dong we have in the news.