The first round of the 2025 NFL Draft, which gets a whole night to itself, is in the books. It reflected a modern trend in college football where two conferences — the SEC and the Big Ten — are running away with the talent acquisition arms race.
The SEC and the Big Ten combined for a whopping 26 of the 32 stars picked on Day 1. The SEC claimed the first-round crown with 15 athletes selected to the Big Ten’s 11. The SEC also tied its own record, set in 2020, for the most first-round selections by a single conference in the modern draft era.
No other conference had more than two players drafted in the first round.
In fact, with at least three round one draftees apiece, Ohio State, Georgia, Texas and Michigan all had more prospects taken than the Big 12 (two) and the ACC (two). To give the ACC and Big 12 credit, they did produce the No. 1 overall pick in Cam Ward from Miami and the No. 2 overall pick in Travis Hunter out of Colorado, respectively.
The Buckeyes stand alone at the top, though. Fresh off of a College Football Playoff National Championship victory, the Buckeyes led all schools with four players drafted in the first round, including a pair of offensive linemen in Donovan Jackson and Josh Simmons.
Here’s a full breakdown of the first-round picks in the 2025 NFL Draft by school and conference.
2025 NFL Draft picks by schools, conferences
SEC (15)
Big Ten (11)
Big 12 (2)
ACC (2)
Mountain West (1)
Missouri Valley (1)
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