They say it just means more in the SEC. When it comes to the NFL draft, that is most certainly the case.
The conference set a new record over the weekend when all was said and done from Nashville, seeing 64 players from the 14 schools in the league get selected by NFL teams. What’s more is they nearly lapped the rest of the Power Five field too and had more players taken than the Pac-12 and Big 12 did combined.
The full breakdown by FBS conference:
SEC -- 64
Big Ten -- 40
Pac-12 -- 33
ACC -- 28
Big 12 -- 26
AAC -- 11
Mountain West -- 10
MAC -- 10
Independents -- 7
CUSA -- 6
Sun Belt -- 1
Naturally it was usual suspect Alabama powering that big number for the SEC, followed by their fellow regulars with elite rosters churning out ever more talent.
The breakdown by school with more than four players selected:
Alabama -- 10
Ohio State -- 9
Oklahoma/Washington -- 8
Georgia/Texas A&M -- 7
Auburn/Clemson/Notre Dame/Ole Miss/Penn State -- 6
Florida/Kentucky/Miami/Michigan/Mississippi State/Stanford/Utah/West Virginia -- 5
Boston College/Iowa/LSU/Maryland/N.C. State/Oregon/USC -- 4
Also notable were a pair of long draft streaks that were snapped. Virginia Tech had nobody taken for the first time since 1993 and Nebraska’s 56 year-old streak dating back to 1963 also came to an end.