You're right about the OOC games. The only game that wasn't like that last year was UTM. It seemed as though there were so many unsold tickets for that game that none were available on the street. You had to wait in a long line and pay face, but it was no big deal. I paid $70 (face value) for Bama tickets and all the rest I got for $50 or less.
Just curious but in your mind what is a "slight premium" for the good games? I was arguing with a guy over in the ticket forum who said that if UT starts either 4-1 or 5-0 that tickets to the LSU game "will be $300 or more EACH" and "worth more than gold". I told him he had lost his mind, but he didn't budge from that stance. IMO, unless you score some awesome seats, given the current state of the team, you shouldn't ever have to pay much over face value if at all, even for the best games.