SEC extends NFL draft dominance to 10 years
Kings, again.
The SEC, which won the national championship in January and signing day in February, continued its dominance this weekend in the NFL draft.
RELATED: Complete list of every SEC player picked
For the 10th consecutive year, the SEC had more players drafted than any other conference. The SEC finished with 51 draft picks, three fewer than last year, but still four more than the Big Ten. The Pac-12 finished with 32. No other league reached 30.
#SEC wins
SEC 51
Big Ten 47
Pac-12 32
Big 12 26
ACC 26
FCS 21
AAC 10
C-USA 10
MWC 9
Ind. 8
MAC 6
Sun Belt 3
D-II: 2
Germany 1
Canada 1— Saturday Down South (@SDS) April 30, 2016
NFL draft picks since 2012: SEC 259, ACC 176, Big Ten 173, Pac-12 163, Big 12 116. Big 12's biggest issue isn't title game, it's talent.
— Jon Solomon (@JonSolomonCBS) April 30, 2016
This year’s race wasn’t without drama, however. The Big Ten briefly took the lead midway through the draft before the SEC regained controlled in the sixth round.
Gap closing? 2013 NFL draft: SEC had more than triple (63) the Big Ten (20) picks. This year: SEC 51, Big Ten 47.
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) April 30, 2016
Big Ten fans found a way to claim one victory over the SEC:
Power 5 Teams with no player selected in 2016 Draft:
Big 12: Iowa St, Kansas
ACC: Duke, UNC
SEC: Tenn
PAC 12: Colorado
Big Ten: NONE#B1G— Lloyd Ribner III (@LloydRibner) May 1, 2016
9 consecutive years with top 10 pick
The SEC also extended its streak of producing a top 10 pick to nine consecutive years when Chicago selected Georgia linebacker Leonard Floyd No. 9 overall.
The Big Ten’s streak is two years.
Here’s a look at the first SEC player taken in that stretch:
- 2016: No. 9 Leonard Floyd, Georgia (Chicago Bears)
- 2015: No. 4 Amari Cooper, Alabama (Oakland Raiders)
- 2014: No. 1 Jadeveon Clowney, South Carolina (Houston Texans)
- 2013: No. 2 Luke Joeckel, Texas A&M (Jacksonville Jaguars)
- 2012: No. 3 Trent Richardson, Alabama (Cleveland Browns)
- 2011: No. 1 Cam Newton, Auburn (Carolina Panthers)
- 2010: No. 5 Eric Berry, Tennessee (Kansas City Chiefs)
- 2009: No. 1 Matthew Stafford, Georgia (Atlanta Falcons)
- 2008: No. 4 Darren McFadden, Arkansas (Oakland Raiders)
- 2007: No. 1 JaMarcus Russell, LSU (Oakland Raiders)
SEC draft picks by school
- Alabama: 7
- Florida: 7
- Arkansas: 5
- Georgia: 5
- LSU: 5
- Ole Miss: 5
- Auburn: 3
- Mississippi State: 3
- Missouri: 3
- South Carolina: 3
- Texas A&M: 3
- Kentucky: 1
- Vanderbilt: 1
- Tennessee: 0