Anything written in this space about the SEC will inevitably bring about cries of that conference being overrated or a "media creation," which is funny, silly and about as wrong as you can imagine.
If we needed another indication of the SEC's dominance over the rest of college football, how is this: Counted separately, the SEC East division and the SEC West division had as many or more draft picks than any other conference in college football.
Yes, the SEC East had more than the Big 12. The SEC West had more than the Big Ten.
The only competitor was the ACC, whose 31 draft picks last week were tied with the SEC West. The SEC East had 32 draft picks. The Pac-12 was next with 28.
So, obviously, the SEC had more than twice as many draft picks, at 63, as any two conferences put together. Those 63 picks in one draft is a record for a conference. Might as well move the NFL draft from New York to Atlanta to cut down on travel expenses for the players.
It was obvious early in the draft that the SEC was going to have a great week. Of the first 99 picks, 33 came from SEC schools. The pace slowed down in the later rounds to let the Big Ten, Pac-12, ACC and Big 12 catch up, but just a little. The SEC ended up producing 24.8 percent of the players selected in the entire draft. If the never-ending streak of BCS titles didn't prove the SEC's dominance, those draft stats probably should.
And as everyone knows, the SEC is still getting all of the top talent. The Rivals' recruiting rankings from the class of 2013 look like the league standings. What can you really say when Vanderbilt has a higher ranked class than Oregon or Texas?
This year's draft was SEC heavy, and expect the same next year, when South Carolina's Jadeveon Clowney starts the parade of SEC players to shake hands with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. Clowney tweeted out the following as the draft was going on:
365 days
— jadeveon clowney 7(@clownejd) April 27, 2013
The SEC being as big a part of the NFL draft as it is the BCS Championship Game isn't ending anytime soon.
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