Which college football conference had the most first round picks in the NFL draft? (Hint: the SEC was dominant, again)
Conference superiority is an argument that college football fans love to have. But other than College Football Playoff and bowl game success, one of the best arguments that a conference can have is their record in the NFL draft.
In particular, the first round of the NFL draft.
And no conferences are as dominant in the NFL draft as the SEC and the Big Ten. That shouldn’t be a surprise since they are the most talented and deepest conferences in all of college football.
The SEC had four picks in the top 10 of the first round of Thursday night’s NFL draft. The Big Ten had two selections in the opening 10 picks.
And coincidentally, the Big Ten was 6-4 in bowl games and the SEC was 6-8. Although two SEC teams squared off in the College Football Playoff’s championship game.
So let the debate continue, because, well, it is fun. But the SEC still has a pretty strong claim as the best conference in the nation.
Two FCS conferences, the Missouri Valley Football Conference and the Souther Conference, each had a first round selection. The Big 12 had zero selections.
A look at how the conferences did in the first round of the 2022 NFL draft and which conference had the most first-round picks.
SEC (12 players selected)
No. 1 – Jacksonville Jaguars: Travon Walker (Georgia)
No. 3 – Houston Texans: Derek Stingley (LSU)
No. 7 – New York Giants: Evan Neal (Alabama)
No. 9 – Seattle Seahawks: Charles Cross (Mississippi State)
No. 12 – Detroit Lions: Jameson Williams (Alabama)
No. 13 – Philadelphia Eagles: Jordan Davis (Georgia)
No. 16 – Houston Texans: Kenyon Green (Texas A&M)
No. 18 – Tennessee Titans: Treylon Burks (Arkansas)
No. 22 – Green Bay Packers: Quay Walker (Georgia)
No. 23 – Buffalo Bills: Kaiir Elam (Florida)
No. 24 – Green Bay Packers: Devonte Wyatt (Georgia)
No. 32 – Minnesota Vikings: Lewis Cine (Georgia)
Big Ten (seven players selected)
No. 2 – Detroit Lions: Aidan Hutchinson (Michigan)
No. 10 – New York Jets: Garrett Wilson (Ohio State)
No. 11 – New Orleans Saints: Chris Olave (Ohio State)
No. 16 – Washington Commanders: Jahan Dotson (Penn State)
No. 25 – Baltimore Ravens: Tyler Linderbaum (Iowa)
No. 30 – Kansas City Chiefs: George Karlaftis (Purdue)
No. 31 – Cincinnati Bengals: Daxton Hill (Michigan)
ACC (five players selected)
No. 6 – Carolina Panthers: Ikem Ekwonu (North Carolina State)
No. 14 – Baltimore Ravens: Kyle Hamilton (Notre Dame)
No. 17 – Los Angeles Chargers: Zion Johnson (Boston College)
No. 20 – Pittsburgh Steelers: Kenny Pickett (Pittsburgh)
No. 26 – New York Jets: Jermaine Johnson (Florida State)
Pac-12 (four players selected)
No. 5. – New York Giants: Kayvon Thibodeaux (Oregon)
No. 8 – Atlanta Falcons: Drake London (USC)
No. 21 – Kansas City Chiefs: Trent McDuffie (Washington)
No. 27 – Jacksonville Jaguars: Devin Lloyd (Utah)
American Athletic Conference (two players selected)
No. 4 – New York Jets: Ahmad Gardner (Cincinnati)
No. 24 – Dallas Cowboys: Taylor Smith (Tulsa)
Missouri Valley Football Conference (one player selected)
No. 19 – New Orleans Saints: Trevor Penning (Northern Iowa)
Southern Conference (one player selected)
No. 29 – New England Patriots: Cole Strange (Tennessee-Chattanooga)
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