NFL Draft: Colleges, conferences most represented in last 10 years

The 2016 NFL Draft begins Thursday, and soon the biggest and brightest stars from the college football world will head to the pro ranks.

If history has shown us anything, expect plenty of players from the Southeastern Conference to hear their names called throughout this year's three-day event.

In the past 10 NFL drafts, a whopping 519 athletes from the SEC have been selected. And it likely won’t take long for the conference to be represented on Thursday, as ESPN’s Todd McShay projects the San Francisco 49ers to select Ole Miss offensive lineman Laremy Tunsil with the No. 7 pick.

The SEC’s 519 prospects is more than any other conference, and frankly, it’s not all that close -- The ACC has had the second most players drafted with 449 prospects.

Check out the full data compiled by Graphiq:

The SEC’s draft dominance should come as little surprise. The conference has certainly made its mark on the field in recent years, winning eight of the last 10 national championships.

The Big Ten (418) is next in line after the ACC, but the Pac-12, who ranked fourth with 381 prospects, will likely be the belle of the ball on Thursday. McShay projects the Los Angeles Rams to take California quarterback Jared Goff with the No. 1 overall pick.

If selected first, Goff will be the 41st Cal player to be drafted since 2005. While a respectable mark for the Golden Bears, they find themselves far behind the USC Trojans, who have had a nation-best 74 players drafted since 2005.

However, there’s a strong chance that USC and the second-most prospect-laden program (LSU, 67 draftees), won’t up their total on Thursday. McShay doesn’t project a Trojan or an LSU Tiger to go in the first round of this year’s draft.

But the same cannot be said for the third-most represented college, Florida State. Seminoles cornerback Jalen Ramsey is expected to be one of the first names off the board; McShay projects the San Diego Chargers to select the electrifying talent with the No. 3 overall pick.

Alabama, winners of four of the last seven national championships, ranks fifth with 60 prospects taken.