The SEC had 49 players — roughly 19 percent of the class —selected in the NFL draft.

The next closest conference was the Big Ten with 34 players selected.

Here are the numbers for the other four Bowl Championship Series conferences — the best conferences in collegiate football — Atlantic Coast Conference (31), Big 12 (30), Pacific 10 (29) and Big East (18).

Those are impressive numbers that speak to the depth of talent in the SEC.

Yes, Big 12 member Oklahoma had four players selected in the first round and seven overall, which means only three other members of the team were worthy of drafting.

Nine other members of the Big 12 had three players or less selected. The SEC had seven teams with at least three players taken.

Florida, which led all teams with nine players selected, matched the entire total of players taken from all members of the Big 12 North Division.

Alabama, Florida and LSU have won the last four national championships and have had their rosters depleted as a result, yet these schools continue to pull in top recruiting classes that are eventually turned into NFL draft picks.

While these numbers are impressive, they do not show SEC players will dominate in the NFL — collegiate success is hardly an indicator of pro success, just ask Ryan Leaf.

What the numbers do show is that the SEC is the toughest conference in the nation.

Its depth — four members with at least six draft picks this season — makes each game a difficult battle to earn a victory. Member squads beat up on each other every week and the team that emerges with the conference title has been rewarded with a shot at the national title in recent years.

Don’t expect this to change soon. More and more SEC teams are signing top-ten recruiting classes and the depth and talent pile is piling up.

Television deals are placing the conference in living rooms of across the nation, which will only draw better and better talent.

The SEC has positioned itself as the best football conference in America. Sit back and enjoy the show.