Who’s Got More Balanced NFL Talent: Big Ten or SEC?
For some background, I compiled the data below from DraftHistory.com. Over the last 5 years the SEC (12 teams) has had 200 players drafted compared to 183 for the Big Ten. Pretty much a dead heat on that front.
The recent argument we’ve heard is not only does the SEC have more talent but it’s more evenly spread out creating a balanced conference were virtually every SEC squad has their share of NFL caliber players. This supposedly increases the competitive edge of SEC teams, especially when they venture out of conference to play foes from conferences featuring less overall NFL talent and/or teams in conferences that feature less balance with regard to NFL talent.
That doesn’t appear to be totally accurate according to the numbers. Over the 5 years, both conferences had 5 teams record at least 20 draft picks and both feature 8 teams with at least 10 picks. As for the bottom feeders, each conference had exactly 3 teams with less than 10 NFL picks. Among those, the Big Ten doormats had 19 combined picks while the SEC’s had 15.
To me, the biggest overall difference is the number of top tier prospects produced in each conference. The Big Ten had 51 players selected in the 1st or 2nd round compared to 66 for the SEC. That difference is further magnified when you look at the spread of those top tier performers. The SEC had 6 teams record at least seven 1st/2nd round selections compared to only 4 teams in the Big Ten. Worse yet, the Big Ten had 6 teams with 2 or less 1st/2nd rounders compared to only 3 for the SEC.
Of course, numbers can be looked at 1,000 different ways. What sticks out to you?
| BIG TEN | TOTAL | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 1st/2nd Rd Picks |
Percent in 1st/2nd Rd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ohio State | 39 | 8 | 9 | 3 | 14 | 5 | 12 | 31% |
| Michigan | 23 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 43% |
| Penn State | 21 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 43% |
| Iowa | 20 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 40% |
| Wisconsin | 20 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 20% |
| Purdue | 18 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 11% |
| Michigan State | 13 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 15% |
| Illinois | 10 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 20% |
| Minnesota | 8 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 13% |
| Northwestern | 7 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 14% |
| Indiana | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Total | 183 | 32 | 41 | 30 | 44 | 36 | 51 | 28% | SEC | TOTAL | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 1st/2nd Rd Picks |
Percent in 1st/2nd Rd |
| Florida | 28 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 25% |
| Georgia | 28 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 39% |
| LSU | 26 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 42% |
| Tennessee | 26 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 27% |
| Alabama | 21 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 19% |
| Auburn | 18 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 50% |
| Arkansas | 14 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 50% |
| South Carolina | 13 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 31% |
| Kentucky | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 25% |
| Vanderbilt | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 25% |
| Mississippi | 11 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 36% |
| Mississippi St. | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0% |
| Total | 200 | 41 | 37 | 37 | 42 | 43 | 66 | 33% |
Nice article dude. I could’ve swore that OSU only had 2-3 draft picks over the last few years. Especially how fat & slow they are…according to the SEC fans & college football experts that have been graciously visiting 11W.
I love how OSU fans are so quick to point to the NFL when trying to reinforce how good their school is. Who cares about the NFL? College football is played by college players. Trying to lobby for respect by throwing out draft numbers is a feeble excuse for either making a true argument or simply being able to say, “they are just better than us”.
Keep college football debates about college football. The NFL is business…and time has proven that draft rankings usually mean nothing in regards to how good a player really is in the NFL.
Throw out all the numbers you like, but the simple fact remains…the SEC has more talent than the Big Ten right now. But its very cyclical. The Big Ten will come back…and I’m sure Ohio State will eventually beat an SEC team.
This was just an exercise to see if one conf had more NFL talent than the other considering the SEC is deeper when it comes to good teams. Not sure how that’s a slight at the SEC or an excuse for big ten / osu…It’s just some data to peruse. Ease up, loser.
Unlike the NFL the NCAA is not a business…it’s all about kids getting an education…ask Dexter Manley.
What sticks out to me is that both conferences have a ton of talent. The other thing that sticks out is the “simple fact” that the SEC definitely doesn’t have more talent than OSU. I want to blame the terrible conference for OSU stinking, but then UM smacks Florida around while playing the same crappy schedule as OSU (minus Oregon, but all that prepared them for was a fire breaking out in the 3rd quarter of a game requiring a stadium evactuation).
It’s easier to argue the conferences are evenly matched than trying to figure out why OSU can’t beat South Carolina. WTF?
Effort, Coaching, Fear, Layoff, Pale White Cheerleaders…I need answered damn it!
More significantly look at the graduation rates. Ohio State, in football is similar to Florida, and is a little better than most SEC teams, graduating about 48/50 percent as a 4 year average. Michigan and Penn State tower over them graduating around 68/70 percent!
68 percent from premier programs! There is not a top ten team football team in the SEC that comes close.
In football, LSU’s 4 year average is 38 percent. However, given they only graduate about 56 percent of their total undergraduate population, this is obviously acceptable. I have a degree from the Ohio State University. At the end of 4 years, only a little more than half the students currently enrolled at LSU will be able to say something similar. How proud they must be.
Next time the callow hyenas at ESPN start their bragging about how weak the Big Ten is, they should be asked just what they mean, and than be reminded that the Big Ten is a collection of academic institutions in a region of shared values which we are all proud to defend. And that while the Big Ten is a football conference, it is much much more!
About the SEC, the same can not be said.
38-24 are the numbers that stick out to me. This week has stunk.
There’s a loser in my office who’s a m*ch*g*n fan. Born here, raised here, educated at OU – you get the picture. After OSU beat them this year, the first thing I did was walk into his office, shake his hand on a game well-played, and tell him that it was alright – things might have been different had Henne, Hart, et al been healthier. I told him he had nothing to hang his head about.
Yesterday, that same loser took the Dispatch headline decrying our defeat to LSU and hung it from the front door of the kitchen area with a sign reading “Ha, Ha, Ha!”
I hate the SEC. I hate m*ch*g*n, and I hate the fact that we answer our critics by starting our season in 2008 with yet another visit from Youngstown State. Gawd.
I feel your pain, Joe. Sounds like a candidate for a stink-palm.
Nice, B-Fett! Mallrats rules!
Plus, Mallet is leaving. Which means that Pryor is going Michigan. And Penn State is going with a running QB for some read option plays next year.
I have been trying to figure out something. Even from when I was a kid watching our string of 9-3 runs from ‘80 through towards the end of the decade I’ve tried to figure this out.
People have ALWAYS hated The Ohio State University in every sport but especially football. It even extends back through the Woody days from what I have read and heard. People nationally just love to hate on The Ohio State University.
I know we have a lot idiots in our fan base that overboard and show little to no class at times. There is no debating or disputing that. However I have seen just as many 3 times over of this behavior from people all over the country. They just love to bash us all over the head with the heaviest thing possible without a shred of class anywhere in sight over any possible negative thing possible. I have NEVER understood this and never will. You see other programs stumble here and there in bowls or on the big stage: coaches, players.
Oklahoma in recent years come to mind. Bowden at Fla St. in the late ’80’s and early 90’s with all the wide rights and near misses on the big stage. Nebraska with Tom Osbourne being in a similar situation throughout the 80’s into the 90’s “not being able to win the big one” and none of them having what I have seen written and said over the last couple days. I have read article after article saying writers will basically do everything in their power to “keep us out of this situation again” basically saying they will vote us down. Maybe it is just because I see this on my team or whatever but I just really don’t understand the extent of the absolute hatred for our university. Even from within our own conference. It is like everyone including our own writers and broadcasters have turned on us. See postgame coverage from TV broadcasters nationally and locally. Read some of our home writers. People GET A DAMN GRIP!
We had a team of unknown and unproven reach the pinnacle of college football and almost walk away with the prize when no one said we would. Again, maybe it’s whinning but I just don’t truly understand with the venomous hatred comes from from everyone out there.
WTF???
Confused,
I wasn’t a hater until I moved here and had to experience the ramblings of the majority of the OSU fans I have met. I am all for passion and believing in your team, but that doesn’t mean that one must be obnoxious and unrealistic about their teams talent. It is unnecessary and to be honest, annoying.
Now, I have met a few educated and reasonable Ohio State fans, and they are very pleasant to be around. However, it is my personal EXPERIENCE that the bad outweigh the good, and that is too bad!
psumrw92, is another idiot spouting the same nonsense that all smack talkers spout when they are jealous. Jealousy rears its ugly head in a number of ways and psumrw92 is one ugly sucka.
When you have an elite program, those below will use the only weapon they have — cheap talk.