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Daniel Wilco | NCAA.com | September 11, 2018

Colleges most represented on 2018 NFL rosters

For a select few NCAA athletes, after their collegiate playing days are over, NFL Sundays call. And with the arrival of September, those Sundays are back.

Final 53-man rosters were announced for the start of the 2018-19 NFL season, and among the 32 NFL teams, there are almost 1,700 players on roster. Almost all started at an NCAA school.

About 86 percent (1,460 players) of them come from FBS teams. But which team has sent the most of its athletes to the NFL? 

RELATED: Former DII football players on 2018 NFL rosters

(Disclaimer: this list only highlights players on 53-man rosters as of Sept. 6. It does not include players on the injury reserved lists, practice squads, or commissioner’s exempt list).

USA Today Sports Images Julio Jones

That’d be Alabama. The Crimson Tide have 44 players spread across 24 teams, including four 2018 first-round picks in Minkah Fitzpatrick (Miami Dolphins), Da’Ron Payne (Washington Redskins), Rashaan Evans (Tennessee Titans), and Calvin Ridley (Atlanta Falcons). Ridley will be playing alongside All-Pro wide receiver Julio Jones, who had 1,133 receiving yards for the Crimson Tide in 2010.

Close behind Alabama is LSU, with 40 Tigers on 26 teams to start the season. The Tigers have churned out stars like Odell Beckham Jr. (New York Giants), Jarvis Landry (Cleveland Browns), Leonard Fournette (Jacksonville Jaguars), Tyrann Mathieu (Houston Texans), and Patrick Peterson (Arizona Cardinals).

Third in the rankings is Florida, which boasts 38 players on 23 teams. That includes both Pouncey brothers, Maurkice (Pittsburgh Steelers), and Mike (Los Angeles Chargers) — who won a title with the Gators in 2008.

If you’ve been paying attention, you’d notice that the top three teams all hail from the same conference: the SEC.

The SEC leads all conferences with 335 players on active NFL rosters — 96 more than the next conference. Here’s every FBS conference ranked:

Conference Players ON NFL ROSTERS
SEC 335
Big Ten 239
ACC 228
Pac-12 210
Big 12 123
American 100
Mountain West 63
C-USA 63
Independent 40
MAC 39
Sun Belt 20

Wondering where your school falls on the list?

Here is the full ranking of FBS schools with players on NFL 53-man rosters:

Rank FBS school Players
1 Alabama 44
2 LSU 40
3 Florida 38
4 Miami 36
4 Ohio State 36
6 Florida State 33
7 Southern Cal 32
8 Clemson 29
9 Auburn 28
9 Georgia 28
11 Stanford 27
11 UCLA 27
11 Tennessee 27
14 Michigan 26
14 Notre Dame 26
16 Iowa 25
17 Texas 24
17 Penn State 24
17 Texas A&M 24
20 Oklahoma 23
21 Wisconsin 22
21 California 22
21 Washington 22
21 Mississippi 22
21 South Carolina 22
26 Nebraska 19
26 Oregon 19
28 North Carolina 18
29 Pittsburgh 17
29 Michigan State 17
29 Mississippi State 17
32 North Carolina State 16
32 Missouri 16
34 Louisville 15
34 Central Florida 15
36 Virginia Tech 14
36 Temple 14
36 West Virginia 14
36 Utah 14
40 SMU 13
40 TCU 13
40 Texas Tech 13
40 Rutgers 13
40 Boise State 13
40 Arkansas 13
46 Cincinnati 12
46 Illinois 12
46 Colorado 12
46 Oregon State 12
50 Boston College 11
50 Virginia 11
50 Oklahoma State 11
53 Memphis 10
53 South Florida 10
53 Kansas State 10
53 Maryland 10
53 Purdue 10
53 Louisiana Tech 10
53 Southern Mississippi 10
53 Arizona State 10
61 Georgia Tech 9
61 Baylor 9
61 Indiana 9
61 Northwestern 9
61 Central Michigan 9
66 Rice 8
66 Utah State 8
66 Arizona 8
66 Kentucky 8
66 Vanderbilt 8
71 Duke 7
71 Wake Forest 7
71 Connecticut 7
71 Houston 7
71 Minnesota 7
71 Western Kentucky 7
71 BYU 7
71 Toledo 7
71 Fresno State 7
71 San Jose State 7
81 Tulane 6
81 Wyoming 6
83 Syracuse 5
83 Florida Atlantic 5
83 Middle Tennessee 5
83 Colorado State 5
83 Nevada 5
83 Washington State 5
83 Appalachian State 5
90 East Carolina 4
90 Kansas 4
90 Marshall 4
90 Old Dominion 4
90 Kent State 4
90 Northern Illinois 4
90 Western Michigan 4
90 New Mexico 4
90 San Diego State 4
99 UTEP 3
99 Massachusetts 3
99 Eastern Michigan 3
99 Ohio 3
99 Texas State 3
99 Troy 3
105 Iowa State 2
105 Florida International 2
105 North Texas 2
105 UAB 2
105 New Mexico State 2
105 Buffalo 2
105 Miami - OH 2
105 Hawaii 2
105 Coastal Carolina 2
105 Georgia Southern 2
105 Georgia State 2
116 Navy 1
116 Tulsa 1
116 Charlotte 1
116 Army 1
116 Liberty 1
116 Ball State 1
116 Air Force 1
116 UNLV 1
116 Arkansas State 1
116 Louisiana-Lafayette 1
116 South Alabama 1