How the SEC teams rank in all-time draft picks and first-rounders

With the NFL draft coming up soon and not much going on elsewhere, here's a look at how many players each SEC school has contributed to the draft since 1967:

OVERALL PICKS

1. Tennessee, 223
2. Florida, 194
3. LSU, 170
4. Georgia, 163
5. Alabama, 155
6. Auburn, 154
7. Arkansas, 130
8. Ole Miss, 102
9. S Carolina, 100
10. Kentucky, 96
11. Miss State, 95
12. Vanderbilt, 54

Not surprisingly, Vanderbilt is at the bottom, with almost half as many picks as the next-to-last place team. But last year the Commodores had three players taken: Chris Williams in the first round, Earl Bennett in the third round, and Jonathan Goff (pictured above) in the fifth round.

Here's how many first round picks each team has had since 1967:

FIRST ROUND PICKS

1. Florida, 36
2. Tennessee, 34
3. Alabama, 25
4. LSU, 19
4. Georgia, 19
6. Auburn, 18
7. Arkansas, 16
8. Ole Miss, 10
9. S Carolina, 9
10. Kentucky, 6
10. Miss State, 6
12. Vanderbilt, 4

It's interesting that things haven't changed much in the SEC over the years. In these two draft rankings, there's a clear line between the top six and the bottom six teams in the league. Likewise, there's a clear line between the top six and the bottom six in SEC and national championships, BCS bowls, size of stadiums, elite recruits, All-Americans, television appearances, etc.

For the last 35 years, no team other than the top six — Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, LSU, Georgia or Auburn — has won an SEC or national championship. The next three — Arkansas, Ole Miss and South Carolina — have moved the needle a bit with high-profile coaches but still have a ways to go. Despite occasional bowl visits, the bottom three teams — Kentucky, Miss State and Vanderbilt — are still the SEC teams that strike the least fear in the hearts of opponents and fans.