Since the College Football Playoff started in 2014, a list of usual suspects has made the final four each season: Alabama, Ohio State and Clemson. These are the teams that are typically battling it out for the national championship each year. This trend continues when we look at it from a conference perspective as well. Of the 32 appearances that have been handed out since 2014, here is how everything lines up:
SEC: 10
ACC: 8 (Notre Dame was a part of the ACC in the 20-21 season)
Big 10: 6
Big 12: 4
Pac-12: 2
Independent: 1
American: 1
A trend has started to form here and not for the good when it comes to our home conference. The Pac-12 has failed to make an appearance in the CFP since 2016. Why do I bring this up when recapping the 2022 NFL draft? Because a similar trend was noticeable as I was watching the first three rounds of the draft.
When you analyze the premium rounds in this year’s draft, you see a correlation between the conferences that compete for titles and where the NFL is looking for its future talent. Here is how the picks lined up by conference after three rounds and 105 picks:
SEC: 34
Big 10: 21
Pac-12: 9
ACC: 7
Big-12: 7
Group of 5/Independent/FCS: 27
The NFL is looking elsewhere when it comes to its talent pool right now, but can the Buffs hang with the heavy hitters of the SEC and Big 10? They’ve done it before, albeit while they were in the Big 8. According to Sporting News, since the seven-round draft was implemented in 1994, these are the only teams to hit double-digits in players getting drafted in a single year (and the number of times done so):
- Ohio State: 4
- Alabama: 4
- USC: 3
- Florida State: 3
- Michigan: 2
- LSU: 1
- Oklahoma: 1
- Miami: 1
- Notre Dame: 1
- Penn State: 1
- Colorado: 1 (1995)
- Washington: 1
- Louisville: 1
- Tennessee: 1
The Buffaloes can reach the mountaintop of college football again, but it will come when their talent is strong enough to be sought out by the NFL, especially in the premium rounds of the draft.
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