Well, it was only a matter of time.  Yesterday we told you that Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany had said that he doesn’t “have a lot of regard for that team,” when asked about a hypothetical national champ that didn’t win its own division.  ”That team” was an obvious shot at Alabama.

It took a day, but Nick Saban has responded.  Asked yesterday about the Delany’s comment, Bama’s coach said, “Don’t be so self-absorbed,” while not naming Delany directly:

“Too many people are about their own self-preservation rather than doing what’s best for college football.  The whole reason we are talking about doing this is for the fans, and the fans want the four best teams.  To come up with a plan where, instead of having Numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4 playing but you have Number 1, 3, 6 and 12 or whatever, it doesn’t make any sense.  They don’t do it in basketball, so for once, let’s do what’s best for college football…

A lot of it (in terms of alternate playoff plans) is targeted at our league.  Last year at one point, we had LSU, Arkansas and us ranked 1-2-3 in the BCS.  Two years in a row, we played Florida in the championship game and we were ranked 1-2.  Some people don’t like that.”

No kidding.  SEC fans had better hope that the Mike Slive/John Swofford bloc can hold more sway with small conference commissioners than the Delany/Larry Scott bloc.  If not, we could indeed be looking at a four-team playoff that doesn’t invite the four best teams in the country.  (Only in college football…)

And for those out there who repeatedly tell this writer that conference champs should be given special treatment because we have no way of accurately selecting the four best teams, we also have no way of accurately selecting the four best conference champions.  Under the plans kicked around, those same rankings that would be inaccurate in choosing the top four teams in the country would be used to select which conference champs are in and which are out.

Oops.

Thirty-nine weeks from yesterday.

That’s how long it is until we’re tracking the faxes on National Signing Day 2013.  And since it’s already May — wasn’t it Christmas last week? — we think it’ll seem like a blink of the eye until that day arrives.

It’s been three weeks since our last check of the Big Board and several schools have picked up commitments in that time.  Below we’ll show you how your favorite team — and your hated rivals — are stacking up to date in terms of committed prospects.

As usual, we’ll use Rivals.com’s rankings.  For each star they assign, we’ll dole out a point.  But we’ll also award a point to 0-star recruits because sooner or later those commits will be graded, too (and if they wind up in the SEC, they’ll most likely receive no less than two or three stars).

First, we’ll show you the SEC’s 14 programs rank in terms of total talent points committed on this May 10th:

Next, let’s take a look at the average points per commitment for each program, in order to figure out what caliber athlete is interested in each program (as of now):

And finally, here’s a peek at which schools have picked up the most total points since our last comparator on April 17th:

A word of advice for those of you hoping for a simple, fair playoff plan to end future college football seasons: Don’t.

The men making the decision on the playoff — what it will be, where it will be, and who it will be — are too interested in their own self-interests to do what is logically correct and what is best for their game as a whole.  They are motivated by greed.  They are motivated by power.  They are motivated to do whatever the heck is best for their own conference.  The rest of college football — the other leagues, the players and coaches, and you fans — be damned.

In a simple world run by rational people who understand that a rising tide will lift all boats, a four-team playoff would be created in order to crown football’s national champion.  The bowl system would be incorporated into that system in an attempt to save a little bit of tradition and, yes, in an effort to make sure the biggest conferences still make the biggest share of money.  While that too could be classified as looking out for one’s self-interests, is there anyone out there who really believes the University of Nevada will be as responsible as the University of Alabama for the new TV dollars a playoff package will create?  Is college football thriving because of the UCFs, North Texases and Western Michigans or because of the previous work of the Floridas, Texases and Michigans?  So let the big boys keep most of the money while still providing the little guys with more cash than they’ve ever seen.

And for gosh sakes include the top four teams in the nation in the playoff.  One would expect that to be the most obvious, simplest, no-brainiest part of the battle.

But it’s not.

Just weeks after floating an idea that would have created three semifinal games in the hopes of giving the Rose Bowl and the Big Ten and Pac-12 special treatment above all other leagues, Big Ten commish Jim Delany is at it again.  Late yesterday, Delany told a group of reporters that the conference commissioners now working on a playoff plan are considering a proposal — no doubt backed by Delany and the commissioners of leagues like the Sun Belt and Mountain West — that would guarantee a slot in the playoff to any conference champion ranked among the nation’s top six teams.  If four conference champs failed to rank among the top six, then and only then would the highest-ranked non-champs or independents be welcomed into the playoff.

It’s a busy day for yours truly so I’m just going to cut to the problem here.  While last season would have ended with a playoff involving #1 LSU, #2 Alabama, #3 Oklahoma State and #5 Oregon (instead of #4 Stanford), imagine this scenario:

#1.  LSU — 13-0 SEC Champion (from a 14-team league with a championship game)

#2.  Alabama — 12-1 SEC non-champ (from a 14-team league with a championship game)

#3.  Southern Cal — 12-1 Pac-12 runner-up (from a 12-team league with a championship game)

#4.  Boise State — 12-1 Big East champ (from a 12-team league expected to have a championship game)

#5.  Oklahoma — 10-2 Big 12 champ (from a 10-team league with no championship game)

#6.  Ohio State — 10-3 Big Ten champ (from a 12-team league with a championship game)

In that event, the second and third best teams in the nation would be out of the playoffs, replaced by teams either a) from easier-to-win, smaller leagues or b) with lesser records.  If you think that’s not a likely scenario, fine, but it would be a possibility under Delany’s “anything to keep two SEC teams from making the field” plan.  And until last January, who would have predicted a two-teams-from-the-same-league BCS Championship Game scenario?  What may seem unlikely today can quickly come to fruition tomorrow.

Too bad the guys making this decision can’t wrap their pointy heads around that fact.

How hard is it to simply take the four best teams in the country and put them in football’s version of the Final Four?  Not all leagues are created equally.  The SEC has proven that fact in eight of the last 14 and six of the last six BCS title games.  It also happens to recruit and churn out more pro draft picks than any other league.  And it just expanded to 14 teams making it even more difficult to win.

The Big 12, by comparison, looks to be a 10-team league for the foreseeable future.  As we showed earlier this week, it’s recruiting zone is shrinking.  Ditto the Big Ten.  Those leagues — like it/don’t like it, fair/not fair — do not look to be on even footing with the SEC or even the ACC or Pac-12 moving forward thanks to their current footprints and the migration patterns of the modern American citizen.  The idea of putting those leagues on a bigger pedestal than the one they’re already resting on is patently absurd.

Their advantage is the fact that they helped create this nation’s love for college football and that they will rake in bazillions of bucks via the new playoff system.  The SEC and ACC should have an advantage because they’re 14-teams deep at this point.

Some of the smaller conferences will get an increase in funds and — with a playoff open to anyone ranked among the nation’s top four teams — more opportunities to play for crowns.  Whether they deserve it or not.

Take the Big East (please).  Here’s the group Boise State would have to best to win its league — UCF, Cincinnati, Houston, Louisville, Memphis, Navy, Rutgers, San Diego State, SMU, UConn and South Florida.  Hate to tell ya, Big East’ers, but winning that league would equate to finishing second, third or fourth in some of the bigger, tougher conferences.  Winning that league and finishing sixth in the ranking should not automatically jump the Broncos over #2 or #3 ranked teams.  Now, if Boise is deemed to be in the top four by the voters and/or computers, okey-dokey.  But the eyeball or a computer chip will still have a say.

For the college football fan out there, you should drop to your knees and pray to your favorite omnipotent being that eventually — wisely — these commissioners will simply agree on a ranking formula that can be used to determine the playoff participants.  If three teams come from one league, so be it.  Everybody still makes money.  If four conference champions get in, super.  If four conference runner-ups make the field, fine as well.  Just so long as the four highest-ranked teams are involved.

If the power brokers of college football are truly ready to respond to waning bowl ratings and falling attendance figures then they’d best start putting fans first, not their own self-interests.  Unfortunately, I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you.

And if the proposal Delany mentioned yesterday winds up getting a thumbs-up, here’s the scenario we at MrSEC.com would absolutely love to see play out in Year One of the new system:

#1.  Ohio State — 13-0 Big Ten champion

#2.  Michigan — 12-1 Big Ten runner-up

#3.  Wisconsin — 12-1 Big Ten non-champ

#4.  LSU — 11-2 SEC champion

#5.  Boise State — 11-1 Big East champion

#6.  Oklahoma — 9-3 Big 12 champion

That playoff would nix a pair of Big Ten powers in order to provide space for guaranteed league champions with lesser records.  Such a scenario would also dole out a healthy dose of karma for guys like Delany who would rather do what’s right by his own league than what’s right by all leagues, all teams, and all fans… which is to just take the four best teams in the darn country and play ‘em off.

Tyren Jones’ commitment to Alabama hasn’t affected LSU’s interest in the running back from Walton High School in Marietta, Ga.

The Tigers appear to still be in heavy pursuit of Jones despite his pledge to Alabama.

Alabama Commit Tyren Jones told me LSU has really turned the heat up on him. He is from New Orleans. Weighed 201 today and said “solid” 2 UA

— Rusty Mansell (@Mansell247) May 2, 2012

Despite that “solid” pledge, Jones’ recruitment could still be worth monitoring. The Crimson Tide already has a commitment from running back Altee Tenpenny from North Little Rock, Ark. Another running back choosing Alabama could influence Jones to look elsewhere, including LSU.

Other schools to offer Jones include Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Clemson and North Carolina.

With Texas A&M wrapping up its spring practice over the weekend, the SEC has officially moved into summertime mode.  (For those Aggies and Tigers who are new to the conference, we call this period “Court Season” as it’s the time we unfortunately have to write more and more about off-field arrests.)  With spring behind us, today we look at which SEC schools are legitimate contenders for the BCS crown, for the SEC title, for division titles or for bowl eligibility in the coming season.

According to at least one set of futures lines, the usual league suspects litter the BCS Championship field — LSU, Alabama, Georgia, Arkansas and South Carolina are listed among the 12 best bets to capture next January’s crystal football by most sportsbooks.

Over the weekend, The Kansas City Star – long known for its in-depth knowledge of Southeastern Conference football — even put forth its predictions for the SEC’s final standings board next season.

So it’s time to look ahead.  Below, we’ll do just that.  Here is what we believe your favorite team should be looking forward to in 2012:

Alabama 

Last Year:  12-1 overall, 7-1 in SEC, BCS Champions

Projected Starters Returning:  13

3 Toughest Games:  Michigan (neutral), at Arkansas, at LSU

Should Contend For:  The BCS Championship.  Bama followed up its last national crown with a 9-3 season and in the SEC, that kind of stumble is possible once more.  But Nick Saban has two more recruiting classes under his belt since that last attempt at a repeat. The Tide should be better suited to make another title run this time around.  Make a note, though — the three games that look to be toughest for Bama on paper are all away from Tuscaloosa.

Arkansas

Last Year:  11-2 overall, 6-2 in SEC, Cotton Bowl Champions

Projected Starters Returning:  15

3 Toughest Games:  Alabama, at South Carolina, LSU

Should Contend For:  A BCS bowl game.  It’s been a turbulent few weeks in Fayetteville and there’s no telling how the team will rally around new/old interim boss John L. Smith.  But the Hogs would be rolling into the 2012 season just as they did last year — as the dark horses behind Bama and LSU in the West — even if Bobby Petrino had kept his job.  So much of the Razorbacks’ hopes ride on new coordinator Paul Haynes and what he can get out of UA’s defense in his first year.

Auburn

Last Year:  8-5 overall, 4-4 in SEC, Chick-fil-A Bowl Champions

Projected Starters Returning:  18

3 Toughest Games:  LSU, Arkansas, Alabama (also Clemson at neutral site, at Georgia)

Should Contend For:  A bowl bid.  Gene Chizik said last week that he’s still one recruiting class away from getting AU’s foundation stabilized.  This year he’ll be breaking in a new offense and a new defense which undercuts the fact that the Tigers will have so many starters returning.  Maybe we don’t see him, but it doesn’t look like another Cam Newton has walked through the doors at Jordan-Hare just yet.  Eight or nine wins would be a good season considering the Tigers’ meaty schedule.

Florida

Last Year:  7-6 overall, 3-5 in SEC, Gator Bowl Champions

Projected Starters Returning:  18

3 Toughest Games:  LSU, South Carolina, Georgia (neutral) (also at Texas A&M for SEC opener and at Florida State)

Should Contend For:  The East Division title.  The Gators have a lot of people back, their depth should be better, and their systems — even with the departure of O-coordinator Charlie Weis — should remain very similar to last year’s.  They also have plenty of 4- and 5-star recruits on the roster, as usual.  Those are the pluses.  But there’s still no real experience at quarterback.  And no one knows which of Urban Meyer’s old players will still be on the roster — or in jail — come fall.

Georgia

Last Year:  10-4 overall, 7-1 in SEC, Outback Bowl Losers

Projected Starters Returning:  15

3 Toughest Games:  at Missouri for SEC opener, at South Carolina, Florida (neutral)

Should Contend For:  The SEC Championship.  On paper, Georgia has the scheduling advantage over South Carolina.  For that reason, we believe they should capture the East and reach Atlanta once again.  But traveling to Missouri for that school’s first-ever SEC game will be a bigger challenge than most seem to think, especially with a suspension-riddled Bulldog secondary.  The key thing for UGA fans to remember — football isn’t played on paper.

Kentucky

Last Year:  5-7 overall, 2-6 in SEC, No Bowl

Projected Starters Returning:  13

3 Toughest Games:  South Carolina, at Arkansas, Georgia

Should Contend For:  A bowl bid.  At best.  The Cats don’t return a lot of starters from a team that was disappointingly bad on offense a year ago.  But if UK can get off to a good start with a win at Louisville and if offensive coordinator Randy Sanders can get the most out of quarterback Maxwell Smith, there’s no reason to think the Wildcats can’t get back to .500 and make a postseason appearance.  Aside from Georgia and South Carolina, there just aren’t many sure things in the SEC East.

LSU

Last Year:  13-1 overall, 8-0 in SEC, SEC Champions, BCS Championship Game Losers

Projected Starters Returning:  14

3 Toughest Games:  South Carolina, Alabama, at Arkansas

Should Contend For:  The BCS Championship.  Les Miles has beaten Alabama during the regular season in each of the last two years.  If Oklahoma State hadn’t been upset by Iowa State last season, there’s a great chance Miles would have avoided a rematch with Bama in January and captured his second crystal football.  Once again the SEC looks to be headed toward an all-the-marbles showdown between the Tigers and the Tide… and this year the game’s back in Baton Rouge.  The key for LSU: Can new quarterback Zach Mettenberger bring more consistency to the Tiger offense?

Miss. State

Last Year:  7-6 overall, 2-6 in SEC, Music City Bowl Champions

Projected Starters Returning:  13

3 Toughest Games:  at Alabama, at LSU, Arkansas

Should Contend For:  A bowl bid.  Two years ago, State surprised.  Last year, State disappointed.  With a small number of starters back and with Tyler Russell taking over as full-time quarterback, will the Bulldogs be closer to the 2010 club or the 2011 club?  Just looking at the strength of the SEC West, we’ll lean toward last year’s club.  But with the easiest, laugher of a nonconference schedule in the SEC — Jackson State, Troy, South Alabama, and MTSU — the Bulldogs should be plenty good enough to bang out six or seven wins and go bowling.

Missouri

Last Year:  8-5 overall, 5-4 in Big 12, Independence Bowl Champions

Projected Starters Returning:  13

3 Toughest Games:  Georgia, at South Carolina, Alabama

Should Contend For:  A bowl bid.  Will quarterback James Franklin be healthy in time for the season?  Will a quarterback who runs so often be able to remain healthy in the rugged SEC?  How quickly will top recruit Dorial Green-Beckham develop into a playmaking receiver?  And how will the Tigers’ defense stack up in a ground-and-pound league, as opposed to the wide-open Big 12?  Despite all the questions, Mizzou should benefit from a so-so East Division in which several teams could all go bowling with either six or seven total victories.

Ole Miss

Last Year:  2-10 overall, 0-8 in SEC, No Bowl

Projected Starters Returning:  17

3 Toughest Games:  at Alabama, at Arkansas, at LSU (also at Georgia)

Should Contend For:  Last place in the SEC.  The Rebels are breaking in a new, young coach with little head coaching experience.  Much of his staff has come from smaller schools as well.  He’ll face Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia and LSU all on the road.  And he’s got a nonconference date with Texas in Oxford tossed in for good measure.  Hugh Freeze, you’ve got your work cut out for you… and our best wishes.

S. Carolina

Last Year:  11-2 overall, 6-2 in SEC, Capital One Bowl Champions

Projected Starters Returning:  14

3 Toughest Games:  Georgia, at LSU, Arkansas (also at Florida, at Clemson)

Should Contend For:  The East Division championship.  Ah, the schedule.  That’s the only reason we’re not listing Carolina as competing for the SEC title… their road to Atlanta looks tougher than Georgia’s.  That said, Steve Spurrier has turned USC into a solid football program.  After two good years, he can’t afford to take a step back and lose any of the momentum he’s created.  We don’t think he will so long as Connor Shaw can develop into a better passer and Marcus Lattimore can return to his pre-injury form.

Tennessee

Last Year:  5-7 overall, 1-7 in SEC, No Bowl

Projected Starters Returning:  20

3 Toughest Games:  at Georgia, Alabama, at South Carolina (NC State in opener at neutral site)

Should Contend For:  A bowl bid.  Two years ago, Derek Dooley inherited a total mess at Tennessee.  In his first season, his squad had no depth.  In his second year, his squad had no veteran leadership.  Now he’s got a roster filled with returning starters and better players.  He hasn’t shown anything to date to make anyone think he’ll be as successful as his daddy once was, but experience means a whole lot in the SEC.  Remember, Petrino’s first Arkansas’ squads were slapped around pretty good.  The last two years — with experience on their side — many of those same players were doling out the slaps.  If UT can win its opener in Atlanta against NC State, seven or eight wins are possible.

Texas A&M

Last Year:  7-6 overall, 4-5 in Big 12, Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas Champions

Projected Starters Returning:  16

3 Toughest Games:  Arkansas, LSU, at Alabama

Should Contend For:  A bowl bid.  And that’s likely being generous.  The Aggies need to find toughness on defense in a hurry, something they lacked last season in the pass-happy Big 12.  They also need to find a quarterback who can run Kevin Sumlin’s own pass-happy system.  Dropped headfirst into the toughest division in college football, 2012 could be a rough wake-up call for Aggie fans who were begging to “SEC-ede” from their old league.  We suggest they buy heavily into the following word: Patience.  A&M made a smart long-term move in joining the SEC.  But we don’t expect that move to pay dividends overnight (aside from the  school’s bank account, anyway).

Vanderbilt

Last Year:  6-7 overall, 2-6 in SEC, Liberty Bowl Losers

Projected Starters Returning:  18

3 Toughest Games:  South Carolina, at Georgia, Florida

Should Contend For:  A bowl bid.  Once again James Franklin will be coaching a core group of veteran players.  As we mentioned just two schools up, experience often means, oh, so much in the Southeastern Conference.  There’s energy around the VU program.  Now Franklin must capitalize on it.  If Jordan Rodgers is able to become a bit more consistent as a passer, there’s no reason to think the Commodores can’t match last year’s success and possibly go bowling in back-to-back years for the first time in school history.  Yes.  For the first time in school history.

Earlier today, we showed you how the SEC continues to dominate the NFL draft.  Then we showed you why you can expect that trend to continue — and even grow — in the future.  Now we look specifically at the 14 SEC member institutions to see which programs have been producing the most draft-worthy talent for the National Football League’s 32 teams.

First, here’s a look at the number of NFL draft picks produced by each school over different periods of time: this past week’s draft, the most-recent five years (2008-2012), the most-recent 10 years (2003-2012), and the past 20 years (1993-2012).

Programs are listed according to this year’s draft numbers:

Before anyone screams that we’ve ranked their favy-wavy school lowest in a tie because we hate them… we actually just fell back on plain ‘ol alphabetical order to separate those schools tied with four picks, two picks, or one pick each.

As you can see, when you add in Missouri and Texas A&M, this year’s SEC draft class would have jumped from 42 players selected to 47 overall.

But which programs are on the rise and which are on the decline from a talent perspective?  Admittedly, that’s a tough question to answer.  A school that had one player drafted this past season might wind up with six or eight or ten next year depending on success, decisions to leave school early, etc.

In order to answer that question then, we’ve decided to just compare the past five draft classes for each school to the total number of players drafted from each institution over the past 20 years.  Column B divided by Column D, in other words.

Below we’ve listed each SEC program according to the percentage of total NFL picks (1993-2012) that have come from the last five drafts (2008-2012).  This should give us a very loose, very ballpark idea of which programs are headed up and which programs are headed down in terms of overall talent.

Let’s just go ahead and state the obvious “yeah, buts” right off of the bat.  For some schools, there was nowhere to go but up (or down).  Other schools have gone through recent coaching changes and coaching changes always lead to attrition.  Folks at Auburn, Florida and Tennessee can certainly point to that as being a factor in their low percentages.  Also, teams like Auburn or Tennessee — which leaned heavily on youth last year — might begin to see their numbers change next April or the next.

That said, here just a couple of observations:

1.  Credit Gary Pinkel for the outstanding job he’s done at Missouri in terms of raising the school’s overall talent level the last five years.  SEC fans will scoff and point to the Big 12 as being an inferior conference, but the Tigers did outgun both South Carolina and Arkansas in bowl games on Pinkel’s watch.  For comparison’s sake, Mizzou is entering a tougher top-to-bottom SEC than the one Arkansas and South Carolina joined 20 years ago, but the Tigers are better positioned in terms of their current roster than either of those schools were when they climbed aboard Roy Kramer’s ship.

2.  Speaking of South Carolina, nearly 40% of the Gamecocks drafted over the last 20 years have been tabbed in the last five Aprils.  That’s a testimony to the type of foundation Steve Spurrier has put down in Columbia.  Will the Gamecocks be able to unseat long-term one of the traditional “big six” programs in the SEC — Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU or Tennessee?  That’s a big task as most traditionally powerful programs eventually find their way back to the Promised Land after spending time in the desert.  That’s happened at Oklahoma, Southern Cal, Texas, Alabama, and Tennessee over time, just to name a few.  But there’s no question Spurrier has turned Carolina into a football program that the SEC and the nation must take seriously moving forward.  That’s a great achievement considering where the Cocks were for most of their first 17 seasons in the SEC.

3.  James Franklin has done a tremendous job at Vanderbilt.  He’s recruiting well and he’s building excitement around a program that’s lacked that since, basically, the 1920s.  But a look at the numbers reveals that Bobby Johnson deserves credit for improving Vandy’s talent level during his tenure.  For the most part, Johnson made the Commodores a more competitive program and he did lead them not only to their first bowl game since 1982, but also to their first bowl victory since Dwight Eisenhower was in the White House.  Credit Franklin for the works he’s doing now.  Credit the VU administration for supporting him as promised.  But don’t forget the work done by Johnson.  His decision to redshirt players left and right has allowed Franklin to walk in and inherit to veteran clubs in his first two seasons in Nashville.

4.  Rich Brooks and Houston Nutt — yes, Hog fans, Houston Nutt — and Bobby Petrino deserve some credit for boosting the talent levels at Kentucky and Arkansas respectively during their reigns at each school.

5.  LSU was an absolute sleeping giant when Nick Saban arrived.  From 2000 through the 2011 season, the Tigers have played in five BCS bowl games, including three BCS title tilts.  But between 1986 and 2000, LSU did not reach a single major bowl game.  Saban closed the state’s borders to outside recruiters and built a powerful program.  Les Miles has successfully kept the pipelines pumping from across the Pelican State right into Baton Rouge.

6.  In terms of drop-offs, Auburn, Florida, Texas A&M and Mississippi State have seen them.  Auburn, Florida and A&M are traditionally strong football programs based in fertile recruiting ground.  Therefore it’s a bit surprising that their numbers haven’t been better over the past five years — compared to where they have been over the last 20 drafts.  Coaching changes and the attrition attached to coaching changes can be blamed.  As for MSU, however, it will be interesting to see if Dan Mullen can finally get the Bulldogs’ program back to where it was talent-wise under Jackie Sherrill (and do so legally, for that matter).  State has had first-round draft picks in each of the last two years, something that hadn’t happened at MSU since the early-80s.  That’s a start.  As Mullen enters Year Four, we’ll now see just how many NFL scouts start beating a path to Starkville.

7.  Oh, sad, sad Tennessee.  The Volunteers produced 101 NFL picks between 1993 and 2012, but less than 13% of those selections have come in the last five drafts.  Unlike the other schools who’ve experienced a recent coaching change, UT has endured that upheaval twice.  The Vols have hemorrhaged players as a result of the Phillip Fulmer-to-Lane Kiffin-to-Derek Dooley roundabout.  But Tennessee’s problem traces to something greater.  In a four-year span from 2000 through 2003, UT saw 32 of its players drafted into the NFL.  That’s eight players per year for those of you who aren’t boned up on your ciphering.  But the number of players picked dropped to 27 from ’01 to ’04, then to 23 from ’02 to ’05, then to 20 from ’03 to ’06, and all the way down to 15 at the end of the Fulmer Era in the ’06 to ’09 draft cycle.  That’s a mighty precipitous drop.  What caused such a fall?  First, Tennessee isn’t a talent-rich state.  Second, Georgia and South Carolina — two states Fulmer had successfully mined during his heyday — saw their state schools make upgrades in their own coaches.  Borders were shut down, UT never recovered.  UT’s tradition suggests they will indeed rise again someday, just like those other powers we mentioned earlier in this piece.  But the key will be recruiting.  And having to fire Dooley if the 2012 season doesn’t go as planned could set that front back to square one.

Each year there are some fans around the country — many living in Big Ten or Big 12 country — who suggest the SEC is overrated.  In their view, just because a league won a national crown last year… that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best league this year.

Shoot, just because a conference has won six titles back to back to back to back to back to back… that doesn’t mean it’ll be the best conference the next year, either.  At least that’s their story as it’s not their favorite team’s conference that’s won six BCS championships in a row.

Well, for the Doubting Thomases out there from Ann Arbor to Dallas we humbly submit the first round of  last night’s NFL draft as further proof that the Southeastern Conference — love it or hate it — does indeed play the best college football in the nation each season.  The SEC has the best players.

As we showed you yesterday, the SEC has had more players drafted into the NFL each and every spring from 2007 through 2011.  And it’s won shiny, crystal footballs at the end of those seasons to boot, besting teams from the Big Ten and Big 12 twice each for good measure.  So you have two pretty significant sets of evidence there.  On-field results.  Talent out the proverbial wazoo.

That proved to be the case yet again last evening.  Ten players from Mike Slive’s league were picked among the 32 selected in last night’s first round.  Basically one-third of 32 best players in America toiled at what were SEC stadiums last year or will be SEC stadiums this year (counting ex-Texas A&M quarterback Ryan Tannehill).

Even more impressive was the fact that nine of the first 18 names called were those of men from the SEC.  Nine of the top eighteen.  Think about that for a second, SEC-haters.  Hell, think about that for a second, SEC-lovers.

Wonder why teams in the Southeastern Conference beat each other up and still get love from computers and poll voters?  There’s Clue #1 for ya.  Playing in the SEC is the closest one can get to playing in the NFL — insert snarky pay-for-play comment here — without yet being in the NFL.

Here’s the breakdown of last night’s first round by power conference:

Even without Tannehill counted as an SEC player — and we did that to show that the SEC is going to be even tougher to win in coming years with Missouri and A&M added to the mix — the conference still nearly doubled its nearest rival league in terms of top o’ the line pro talent.

The best players in the country play in the SEC.  There should be no argument, then, that the best football is played in the SEC as a result.  Sure, one season the best team in the country might come from another league.  That’s why traditional powers like Texas, Florida State, Ohio State, Oklahoma and relative newcomer Oregon have been thrown up against the SEC over the last 14 BCS seasons.  None has ever won that last game against an SEC team, though.  In fact, if you want to see the SEC lose a title game, the best way to insure that is to put it up against another SEC team.  That’s what happened last year as LSU became the first-ever league team to lose a BCS Championship Game… falling to league rival Alabama.

Not surprisingly, those two teams dominated last night’s first round as well.

Alabama had four players selected.  LSU had two.  That’s six first-round picks straight from last year’s BCS title game (not to mention all the future first-rounders who remain at those schools for the moment).

South Carolina had two players selected as well.  Mississippi State had a first-rounder, marking the first time since 1982 and 1983 that State has had first-round picks in back to back years.  Then toss in SEC newcomer A&M to reach 10 picks overall for football’s King of Conferences.

This type of post is not meant to be viewed as gloating.  If the SEC had had three players selected you can be sure we’d be discussing what’s gone wrong with the league’s talent pool.  No, instead this little blurb is put forth to further undermine the sourpuss argument spoken by those who’ve grown tired of hearing “SEC this” and “SEC that” each fall.

From the BCS computers to the people voting in the national polls to the scouts, GMs and coaches of the National Football League… everyone’s clearly aware that the best players and the best football are played Down South.

It’s a fact.  Accept it.  Oh, and there’s little sign of that fact changing anytime soon, either.

Congrats to those SEC players drafted last night.  And good luck to all those who still hope to hear their names called today and tomorrow.

So which SEC schools crank out the most NFL draft picks?  How have those numbers changed over the last 20 years?  Who’s on a talent upswing?  Who’s not?

Below we’ve gone back over the past 20 years worth of NFL drafts.  We’ve tallied up the number of selections for each SEC school — including newbies Missouri and Texas A&M — and listed them for you in five-year intervals.  In the far right column, you’ll also see the number of total players selected from 1992 through 2011 (as well as the average number of players picked from each school each year).

When looking at the numbers, keep in mind that the NFL had 12 rounds of picks in 1992 and eight in 1993.  Since 1994, the draft has lasted but seven rounds.  In other words, the numbers from the first five-year period will be a bit inflated.  Still, for a pure school-by-school comparison, those numbers are worth including.

We’ll list the schools in alphabetical order just for the sake of easy reading.  Here goes:

Observations:

* What’s now being called “The Nick Saban Effect” is absolutely massive.  Look at LSU pre-2002 (Saban arrived in 2000) and post-2002.  Toss in the numbers from what are expected to be big drafts for LSU and Alabama this year and his legendary production of NFL-caliber athletes will only grow further.  The guy is simply the best at luring in pro prospects and helping them reach their potential.  He turned LSU from an also-ran into a recruiting dynamo and he’s re-established Bama as a signing day juggernaut.  (Kudos as well to Les Miles who’s kept the production line on the Bayou running quite smoothly since Saban’s departure, by the way.)

* Mark Richt has made a pretty big difference at Georgia.  Even with some longer drafts in the early-90s, pre-Richt Georgia didn’t produce nearly the amount of talent that Richt has.  He may not have a national title, but there’s a reason he’s won two SEC crowns and just played for another.

* Woe is Tennessee.  The Vols still rank tops in the SEC in draft picks over the last 20 years, but the drop-off from the end of the Phillip Fulmer era to now is quite evident.  Blowing up the roster with two coaching changes in three years will do that for you.  But, boy, did Johnny Majors and Fulmer have things rolling in the 90s?

* Florida has been the SEC’s model of consistency.  Until now.  The Gators could conceivably have just one player drafted this week, proving that — as has been the case at Tennessee — attrition follows coaching changes.

* For Dan Mullen to actually cash in on some of the momentum/excitement he built early in his tenure at Mississippi State, he’s going to need to start signing and producing more NFL-caliber players.  Depending on how the Bulldogs do in this year’s draft, we might actually see a step in that direction.

* Steve Spurrier gets a world of credit for improving South Carolina’s roster — and deservedly so — but Lou Holtz should be remembered for starting the ball rolling in terms of talent-production in Columbia.  He didn’t get a lot of wins with ‘em, but Holtz improved the type of athletes Carolina signed.  Spurrier has raised the bar even higher since taking over for his friend.

* Texas A&M could produce a number of picks in this week’s draft, but the overall decline of talent in College Station is scary.  Mike Sherman helped replenish the roster and Kevin Sumlin may well  reap the rewards, but it’s hard to believe that the #2 legacy program in the talent-rich state of Texas has only produced 23 draft picks over the last 10 NFL drafts.  Talk about underachieving.

* Missouri has had fewer players drafted into the NFL than Kentucky since 1992.  Think about that for a second.  But now look at the upswing that’s been created during the Gary Pinkel era.  Clearly, he’s improved the Tigers’ roster.  Heck, Mizzou was ranked #1 in the nation late in 2007… so there’s some more proof for the MU skeptics.  But if Pinkel is to compete for SEC championships, he’ll need more pro prospects coming to the Show-Me State.

Every year we like to have a little fun by looking back over the past few seasons and determining which SEC schools have had the most on-field/on-court success against one another.  Who are the real football schools?  Who have become basketball schools?  And most importantly, which SEC fanbases have had the most opportunities to gloat in recent years?

Below you’ll find what we call our Brag-O-Meter.  (Pet peeve: People who say “oh-meter” as if the thing in your car is a “speed-oh-meter.”)  We’ll show which programs have won the most SEC football games the past four seasons (2008 through 2011).  We’ll show which programs have won the most SEC basketball games over that span, too (2008-09 through 2011-12).  We’ll total ‘em all up and we’ll even award bonus points for SEC titles and national crowns.

First, a few ground rules:

1.  Since the SEC plays eight regular-season football games each year and 16 regular-season basketball games, we multiplied the number of football wins by two.  That way league football wins and league basketball wins will count just the same.  So again: Two points for a football win, one point for a hoops victory.  (And all games count, even the non-division contests.  Sorry, Coach Spurrier.)

2.  We’re not including non-conference wins because some schools dare to play big-time foes while others feast on cupcakes.  Plus, SEC fans will taunt Ball State and Alabama A&M fans anyway.  This is about SEC on SEC warfare.

3.  Sorry, but we don’t include baseball, women’s basketball, softball, or any other non-revenue sport.  If it’s not football or men’s basketball, we’re not counting it.  (This is your cue, South Carolina fans, to add up the Cocks’ baseball wins and add them in via the comment boxes.)

4.  To add some spice, we’re handing out a five-point bonus for SEC regular-season titles in football and basketball.  We’re also tossing out 10-point bonuses for BCS or national basketball titles.  Let’s face it, if a league team wins a national crown, there’s gonna be a whole lot of crowing done by its fans.

5.  We aren’t giving added points for division titles in football or basketball or for SEC Tournament titles in hoops.  All are nice, but the regular-season crown is the goal and that’s what takes the most work from the start of the season to the finish.

With all that said, here’s how the SEC’s football programs stacked up from 2008 through 2011.  (And remember, all league win totals have been doubled to equal basketball.)

And now a look at the basketball results (which did not have to be multiplied by two).

Interesting.  So if we compared the two sports for each program (example: Alabama equaled 22 more football points than basketball points over that four-year span) and then spread them out on a grid, the SEC’s schools — at least for the past four seasons — would line up as football or basketball schools thusly:

Since the 2008 football season, only five SEC fanbases have actually had more reason to cheer in basketball than in football: Kentucky (obviously), Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Mississippi State (who just ran their coach out of town) and Ole Miss.

But now let’s cut to the chase.  Below are the combined points (2 points for a regular-season football win, 1 point for a regular-season basketball win) for football and basketball with the bonus points (five for an SEC title, 10 for a national title) tacked on for good measure.  These are the programs whose fans have had the most to boast about over the past four seasons:

And there you have it.  By our way of tallying things, the top four combined football and basketball programs over the last four seasons have been Alabama, Florida, Kentucky and LSU.

Only three school won multiple SEC regular-season titles in that period: Florida (one in football, one in hoops), Kentucky (two in basketball), and LSU (one on the gridiron, one on the court).

Five national crowns were nabbed in all: Alabama (two in football), Auburn (one in football), Florida (one in football), and Kentucky (one in basketball).

And the dregs of the conference over the last four years?  Well, that’d be Ole Miss (dead last), Vanderbilt, Arkansas and Mississippi State.

That leaves Auburn, Georgia, Tennessee and South Carolina in the middle of the pack, though the Tigers’ dual SEC and BCS crowns in football — “Thanks, Cam Newton!” — give them a leg up on their rather average brothers.

(If you catch where we’ve transcribed a number incorrectly as we went from our Excel sheets to the site, just make a note of it.  Like I had to ask.)

Ask a BCS title-winning coach what he’s most proud of regarding his team and he’ll likely tell you winning the dadgum BCS title.  But in the case of Nick Saban, he says he was most impressed by his team’s handling of its 9-6 overtime loss to LSU at home in the middle of the 2011 campaign.

Speaking at a benefit last night, Saban had this to say about his team’s focus:

“The thing that I was most proud of with this team was how they handled losing to LSU the first time.  We had a team meeting and we showed them all the plays and how the outcome of the game was completely controlled by what they did. . . . They were all convinced when they left the room that the better team really didn’t win the game.

As big as that game was made out to be, they very easily could have changed what they had committed themselves to accomplish and thought they didn’t have a chance to accomplish it. They never did that.” 

By continuing to move forward and focus on its own game — and with a little help from Iowa State’s win over Oklahoma State — Alabama wound up getting another shot at LSU in the Superdome back in January.  The result, a 21-0 Tide win and the school’s 40-11th national championship (at least according to UA’s media guide).