Last week, Sports Illustrated released their list of the top 100 players in college football for the 2017 season, and as you might expect is what loaded with SEC players.
With 25 SEC football players on the list, the Southeastern Conference made up a quarter of Sports Illustrated’s list, more than any other conference. You can see the complete list complete list here. The Pac-12 and ACC were tied for second with 21 players each.
The ACC was widely regarded as the best conference in college football last season, and that could continue this season. 6 of the top 15 and 10 of the top 30 players on the list are from the Atlantic Coast Conference. Clemson and Florida State are well represented on this list, as well as the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, Lamar Jackson.
The SEC had five players in the top 20, including Calvin Ridley (20), Derrius Guice (17), Christian Kirk (13), Arden Key (7), and Minkah Fitzpatrick (6).
Alabama
Despite having 10 players selected in the 2017 NFL Draft, Alabama led the way with nine players in the top 100. Fitzpatrick was the top ranked SEC player on the entire countdown. Ridley, Bo Scarbrough (23), Da’Shawn Hand (38), Jonah Williams (54), Shaun Dion Hamilton (55), Ronnie Harrison (68), Jalen Hurts (75), DaRon Payne (77) all made the countdown for the Crimson Tide.
One of the most interesting spots on the countdown was Hurts at no. 75. Not only are seven SEC skill players higher on the list than the 2016 SEC Offensive Player of the Year, but the unproven Jarrett Stidham was no. 74.
Auburn
As a true freshman at Baylor in 2015, Stidham started three games. In those three games against Kansas State, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State he went 51-for-81 for 934 yards with 6 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.
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And after transferring to McClellan C.C., Stidham was the no. 1 ranked JUCO prospect in the country. And while we’ve seen that work for Auburn twice before, Stidham still has a lot to prove.
Auburn had four players total on the countdown. Along with Stidham, they had Kamryn Pettway (48), Braden Smith (80), and Marlon Davidson (90).
The Rest
Florida, Georgia, LSU, and Texas A&M each got two players on the top 100 list. Florida had Duke Dawson (72) and Eddy Pineiro (100) on the list. Georgia had Trenton Thompson (62) and Nick Chubb (66). LSU had Key (7) and Guice (17) on the list. And Texas A&M had Kirk (13) and Armani Watts (61).
10 SEC football teams were represented on the list, with Kentucky, Missouri, South Carolina, and Tennessee being the only teams that didn’t have a player on the countdown.