There are few constants in sports, but one that transcends college football and the NFL is a streak between the SEC and the NFL Draft.

Not only is the conference holding the lead, it has raised the number of players picked in recent years. This year’s number of a record-setting 64 topped the last two years, which had 53 each in 2018 and 2017. Three years ago, the conference led the country with 51 picks, and in 2015, the SEC had 54 players drafted.

The last time the SEC didn’t have the most players picked from a single conference came in 2006, when the Big Ten had 41, and the SEC had 37.

What sets the SEC apart is the consistent depth, not only across the draft rounds, from nine in the first round, to nine in the seventh round.

Alabama, expectedly, had the most players picked with 10, but eight teams had at least four draftees, including six from Ole Miss, five from Mississippi State and four from Kentucky.

It also could have been more as Georgia’s Elijah Holyfield was among a surprising group of eight underclassmen who went undrafted.

There’s no end in sight, especially at the top, as early projections for the 2021 draft have suggested six SEC players could be picked in the top 10.