Last week I published the NFL combine list and today I will break it down by conference and by school. It is great to see your favorite team with the most draft picks but it also means that your favorite team has lost a lot of talent. Last year the top 3 teams in Combine invites were…
- Michigan 18
- Washington 13
- Florida State 12
Those three teams all had sharp drop offs last year. Michigan and Washington were both in the National title game and both barely qualified for a bowl game. Florida State was undefeated last year and of course plummeted to just 2-10 last year. Today I will go thru conference by conference and let you know which teams lost the most and the least for the NFL draft. My thought process is that is a power team ranks low in the amount of players headed to the combine, they could be a big time threat in 2025.
SEC – 105 Invites (#1)
1. Texas 14
1. Georgia 14
3. Ole Miss 11
3. South Carolina 11
5. Alabama 9
5. Florida 9
7. LSU 8
8. Tennessee 6
9. Arkansas 5
10. Auburn 4
10. Missouri 4
10. Kentucky 4
13. Oklahoma 3
13. Texas A&M 3
15. Mississippi St 0
15. Vanderbilt 0
Of the teams at the bottom Texas A&M and Oklahoma are the ones that have been at the top of the recruiting rankings the last 4-5 years and lose the least amount to the NFL. South Carolina and Ole Miss are two teams that do not normally have many players drafted and both have 11 at the combine. South Carolina’s largest draft class ever was 2009 when they had 7 players selected. From 2017-2024 they had a total of 21 players drafted in the 8 years combined. Ole Miss has had a top of 6 players selected in the NFL draft in a single season.
BIG TEN 82 (#2)
1. Ohio State 15
2. Oregon 12
3. Michigan 8
4. Iowa 7
5. Minnesota 6
6. Maryland 5
6. Penn State 5
6. UCLA 5
9. Nebraska 4
9. Rutgers 4
11. Wisconsin 3
11. USC 3
13. Indiana 2
14. Illinois 1
14. Purdue 1
14. Washington 1
17. Northwestern 0
17. Michigan State 0
Illinois and Indiana are off double digit win seasons and lose very little to the NFL draft. Washington which was at the top of the charts last year loses just one player. USC only loses 3 players.
ACC 60 (#3)
1. Miami Florida 10
2. Clemson 6
2. North Carolina 6
2. Virginia Tech 6
5. Syracuse 5
6. Boston College 4
6. California 4
6. Louisville 4
6. Pittsburgh 4
10. Florida State 3
11. SMU 3
12. Georgia Tech 2
13. North Carolina St 1
13. Stanford 1
13. Virginia 1
16. Wake Forest 0
16. Duke 0
North Carolina St is usually near the top of the ACC and loses just one player to the combine and SMU only loses 3.
BIG 12 43 (#4)
1. Iowa State 5
2. Colorado 4
2. Kansas 4
2. Texas Tech 4
2. UCF 4
6. Arizona 3
6. Cincinnati 3
6. Kansas State 3
6. Oklahoma St 3
6. Utah 3
11. TCU 2
11. West Virginia 2
13. Arizona St 1
13. Baylor 1
13. BYU 1
16. Houston 0
Arizona State and BYU had tremendous years and both teams only lose one player to the combine (NFL Draft). The league overall only loses 43 players to the NFL draft which is the fewest of the Power 4 conferences.
INDEPENDENTS 9 (#5)
1. Notre Dame 8
2. UConn 1
MOUNTAIN WEST 8 (#6)
1. Boise St 2
1. UNLV 2
3. Colorado State 1
3. Nevada 1
3. San Jose St 1
3. Utah State 1
AMERICAN 6 (#7)
1. Memphis 2
2. East Carolina 1
2. Navy 1
2. Tulane 1
2. UTSA 1
MAC 4 (#8)
1. Toledo 2
2. Bowling Green 1
2. Western Michigan 1
CUSA 2 (#9)
1. Jacksonville St. 1
1. WKU 1
PAC 12 2 (#10)
1. Oregon State 1
1. Washington State 1
SUN BELT 1 (#11)
1. Marshall 1
FCS TEAMS 7
Alabama A&M
Central Arkansas
Delaware,
North Dakota St
Sacramento St
Villanova
William & Mary
The surprise at for the Group of Five conferences to me was that the Sun Belt had the fewest invites at one with even CUSA (genuinely regarded the weakest of the group) just ahead of them with two invites. Not all combine invites get drafted and not all draft picks come from the combine group so the numbers may change a little on draft day, but this gives you a pretty good idea of which teams will have a large amount of draftees and which ones will have very little.
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