One meta game aspect of suited connectors is that if you flop a combo draw and bet/3 bet AI, it often tilts your opponents and helps your image when you hit it. Later, when you run the same line with a set, you'll get instacalls from a much wider range of hands.

Flopping baby trips with SC's can do this as well.

Even if they were slightly -EV for me, I would still play them for a 4xBB or so raise OOP assuming 100+ BB stacks.