The jump from college football Saturdays to NFL Sundays is something every college football player dreams about. Although not every player from every school reaches the NFL, some schools seem to produce more NFL talent than others.
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A whopping 1,439 out of 1,696 players in the NFL come from FBS programs, about 85 percent of the entire league. What conference and team supply the most of these players? Well, if you have been paying attention on Saturdays for the past decade, you could make an educated guess.
Kyler Murray playing quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals and the Oklahoma Sooners - his college and professional teams.
Alabama, just like last year, leads all schools with 56 players on active NFL rosters, followed by Ohio State and fellow SEC schools Florida and LSU.
The top two schools on the list have supplied the NFL with loads of talent. From rookie Josh Jacobs (Oakland Raiders) to seasoned wideout and six-time pro-bowler Julio Jones (Atlanta Falcons), the Crimson Tide have their mark all over the league.
As for Ohio State (45 former players), names like Ezekiel Elliott (Dallas Cowboys), Michael Thomas (New Orleans Saints) and Joey Bosa (Los Angeles Chargers) hold it down for the Buckeyes.
Behind Alabama and Ohio State come Florida and LSU, who have 35 and 32 former team members in the NFL respectively. Seven programs in total have at least 30 representatives at the next level.
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The SEC is known for pumping out NFL talent, as five out of the top 10 programs that have the most active NFL players are SEC schools. The Southeastern Conference has 339 total active players in the NFL right now. The next closest conference is the Big Ten who trails the SEC by 87 players.
(Note: This list only highlights players on active 53-man rosters, according to NFL team websites, as of Sept. 3. It includes FBS teams and conferences only. It does not include players on the injury reserved lists, practice squads or commissioner’s exempt list).
| conference | players on NFL rosters |
|---|---|
| SEC | 339 |
| Big Ten | 253 |
| ACC | 215 |
| Pac-12 | 189 |
| Big 12 | 131 |
| American | 100 |
| Mountain West | 65 |
| C-USA | 59 |
| MAC | 46 |
| Independent | 35 |
| Sun Belt | 21 |
Want to know where your school ranks heading into the 2019 regular season?
Check out the full list of FBS schools with active NFL players below.
| FBS School | Players |
|---|---|
| Alabama | 56 |
| Ohio State | 45 |
| Florida | 35 |
| Miami (Fla.) | 34 |
| LSU | 32 |
| Florida State | 32 |
| Oklahoma | 31 |
| Georgia | 29 |
| Penn State | 28 |
| Texas A&M | 28 |
| Clemson | 27 |
| Wisconsin | 26 |
| Auburn | 26 |
| Stanford | 25 |
| Notre Dame | 25 |
| Washington | 25 |
| Tennessee | 24 |
| Michigan | 24 |
| Iowa | 24 |
| South Carolina | 24 |
| UCLA | 23 |
| Texas | 22 |
| Southern California | 20 |
| Nebraska | 20 |
| Mississippi State | 19 |
| Mississippi | 19 |
| Oregon | 17 |
| California | 16 |
| UCF | 16 |
| Temple | 16 |
| West Virginia | 16 |
| North Carolina | 15 |
| Louisville | 15 |
| Utah | 15 |
| TCU | 14 |
| Pittsburgh | 14 |
| North Carolina State | 14 |
| Virginia Tech | 14 |
| Michigan State | 13 |
| Missouri | 13 |
| Colorado | 13 |
| Boston College | 13 |
| Virginia | 13 |
| Illinois | 12 |
| Arkansas | 12 |
| Oklahoma State | 12 |
| Memphis | 12 |
| Maryland | 12 |
| Northwestern | 12 |
| Texas Tech | 11 |
| Rutgers | 11 |
| Kentucky | 11 |
| Cincinnati | 10 |
| Oregon State | 10 |
| Kansas State | 10 |
| Purdue | 10 |
| Arizona State | 10 |
| Central Michigan | 10 |
| Vanderbilt | 10 |
| Houston | 10 |
| SMU | 9 |
| Boise State | 9 |
| Southern Mississippi | 9 |
| Indiana | 9 |
| Duke | 9 |
| Colorado State | 9 |
| Washington State | 9 |
| Utah State | 8 |
| Connecticut | 8 |
| Toledo | 8 |
| Wyoming | 8 |
| Florida Atlantic | 8 |
| Baylor | 7 |
| Western Kentucky | 7 |
| Fresno State | 7 |
| San Jose State | 7 |
| South Florida | 6 |
| Georgia Tech | 6 |
| Tulane | 6 |
| Marshall | 6 |
| Louisiana Tech | 5 |
| Rice | 5 |
| Arizona | 5 |
| Wake Forest | 5 |
| Minnesota | 5 |
| BYU | 5 |
| Kansas | 5 |
| Troy | 5 |
| Old Dominion | 5 |
| Northern Illinois | 5 |
| San Diego State | 5 |
| Syracuse | 4 |
| Nevada | 4 |
| Appalachian State | 4 |
| East Carolina | 4 |
| Kent State | 4 |
| Western Michigan | 4 |
| Iowa State | 4 |
| UAB | 4 |
| Georgia State | 4 |
| Akron | 4 |
| UMass | 3 |
| Middle Tennessee | 3 |
| Florida International | 3 |
| Hawaii | 2 |
| New Mexico | 2 |
| Eastern Michigan | 2 |
| Ohio | 2 |
| Texas State | 2 |
| North Texas | 2 |
| New Mexico State | 2 |
| Buffalo | 2 |
| Miami (Ohio) | 2 |
| Army | 2 |
| Air Force | 2 |
| Arkansas State | 2 |
| Bowling Green | 2 |
| UTEP | 1 |
| Coastal Carolina | 1 |
| Georgia Southern | 1 |
| Navy | 1 |
| Tulsa | 1 |
| Charlotte | 1 |
| Liberty | 1 |
| Ball State | 1 |
| Louisiana-Lafayette | 1 |
| South Alabama | 1 |
The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NCAA or its member institutions.
