SEC still rules draft; FSU top school … The SEC was shut out of college football’s national championship game this past year for the first time in what seemed like forever; however, the conference got some consolation this past weekend when its members schools once again had the most players selected in the 2015 draft. Indeed, once all the picks were in, 54 players from the SEC had been selected by an NFL team, while the ACC had 47 , the Pac-12 39, the Big Ten 35 and the Big XII 26. In fact, the draft remains largely the preserve of the major conferences as almost 80% of all players selected this weekend were from one of the power 5 conferences. At the same time, the American Athletic Conference had 11 players selected, while the figures were 10 from the Mountain West, 6 for the CUSA, 4 from the MAC and 3 from the Sun Belt. In contrast, only 20 players from outside the ranks of the FBS (DIA) schools were selected this year, although the lower levels did not have to wait all that long for one of their players to be selected as Samford S Jaquiski Tartt was chosen in the 2nd round by San Francisco with the 46th pick. However, while the SEC had more players selected than the other conferences, Florida State led all schools with 11 players selected including QB Jameis Winston who was the first player chosen for the first time in school history. Florida State edged out Louisville, which celebrated Derby weekend by having 10 players taken, while Florida had 8 and Alabama, Miami, and Oklahoma had 7 each. On the other hand, Tennessee did not have a player selected at all ending a 50-year streak in which at least one former Vol was drafted. And just to pour a little salt in the wound, two lower level schools from the state – Tennessee State (with 2) and Tennessee-Chattanooga did have a player chosen.
