SEC Football Powerhouses
Georgia, Alabama and LSU Dominate the SEC with Five-Star-rated Athletes
It should really be of no surprise that certain colleges dominate the football arena over others. There is a reason why every year audiences gush over the same teams going to the same bowl games. While there is room for discussion over the “why” and “how” of these continued successes by a small number of teams, the one indisputable fact is that player talent is the crux of the issue.
Since 2010, CBS has employed “247Sports” to specialize in the collection and analysis of data regarding sports recruitment. Regarding collegiate football, this organization has devised a “star” ranking system to designate a player’s value to his team and how likely that player is to progress to a professional football career. The highest number of stars allocated is five and represents players that are the most likely to be drafted into the NFL during the first round. At four stars, a player is likely to become drafted into the NFL and at three stars, the largest percentage of all collegiate football cadre, a player is merely a possible NFL player sometime in the future.
In the accompanying graphic, each of the fourteen teams of the South Eastern Conference (SEC) is depicted along with the percentage of three, four and five-star players on their given rosters. As the graphic illustrates, the football programs of Georgia, Alabama and LSU enjoy the highest percentages of five-star players amidst their rosters; players whose athletic abilities make them highly probable first-round draft picks for the NFL.
Consequently, according to a 2020 “Sporting News” article entitled “Ranking college football’s top 25 programs of the past 10 years” by Bill Bender, Georgia, Alabama, and LSU have held rankings among the top twenty-five college football teams across the United States, for the past decade. For instance, in 2019 21% of Georgia’s roster was considered five-star and for the past decade, Georgia has enjoyed a ninth-place seed in the top 25 NCAA football teams across the country. Compare that to the other end of the spectrum, Vanderbilt, who hosted zero five-star athletes and has also not qualified for a top national rating amongst NCAA football programs within the past decade.
Moreover, as the graphic conveys, these programs also host elevated percentages of four-star players as well. Georgia’s roster is comprised of 63% of four-star players while Alabama and LSU account for 85% and 46% respectively. Again, compare that to Vanderbilt’s zero percentage of four-star players, and the reality of individual player ability seems to come into sharpened focus. Thus, it can be noted that those programs that include higher rated athletes on their rosters also enjoy higher national standings amongst all college football programs. In the end, it would appear that individual player talent is a major component to overall team success.
