Best player on the 2nd best team in the best conference in college football! What's wrong there?

The SEC is not the best conference.  Most experts agree the Big 12 is.  The SEC is extremely top heavy.  Plus, Alabama didn't play Georgia or South Carolina, two of the better SEC teams.  And you shouldn't necessarily look at the team's record when talking about competition for the two running backs.  I think you should look at the opposing team's defense, because really Montee Ball and Richardson went up against the defense only.  Penn St and Ohio St had bad records but good defenses.  They just had terrible offenses.

Wisconsin: Michigan St 2x (5th in the nation in yards allowed) Illinois (7th) Penn St. (10th) Ohio St (24th) Nebraska (36th)
Alabama: LSU (2nd) Florida (9th) Penn St (10th) Vanderbilt (19th)  Tennessee (28th) Mississippi (43rd)

Looking at the the top 6 defensive teams against whom Ball and Richardson played, I think Ball played against tougher competition.  And against the best team they played:

Richardon had 89 yards against LSU
Ball had 115 yards and 137 yards in two games vs Michigan St.