APLast year’s Green Bay-Pittsburgh Super Bowl contained a couple of mini-surprises as it pertained to college football, with the MAC tied for third among all conferences with 13 former players littering the two squads’ game-day rosters and Central Michigan tying for the top spot among individual schools with four ex-players in the championship game.
This year is no different when it comes to surprising roster tidbits. Before we get to the surprises, and the non-surprises in a couple of cases, though, a little bit of technical housecleaning is in order: the totals you see below come from the official sites of the Giants and Patriots, and we’ve utilized the 53-man game-day rosters as well as, in a departure from last year, those on injured reserve and the eight-man practice squads.
With that clutter out of the way, and in no surprise whatsoever, the SEC and Big Ten pace all conferences with 24 and 23 ex-players, respectively, on the two teams’ Super Bowl rosters. The Giants are particularly fond of Big Ten players, with 14 of the 71 players who comprise their (active and inactive) official roster from that Midwestern conference.
The only Big Ten member that won’t have a player in the game? Minnesota. Of the 14 teams that will compete in the SEC in 2012, 12 will be represented in Indianapolis; Missouri and Auburn are the only SEC members who won’t see one of their former players on either of the two rosters.
The only other conferences in double digits are the ACC (19), Pac-12 (15) and Big East (14). Just one Div. 1-A conference is not represented — the WAC. Below, you can behold the magnificence of a chart — replete with colors and dots and lines and everything — showing how the two roster of the NFL clubs have been shaped collegiately:
As far as individual schools go, Boston College tops all 1-A teams with six former players vying for a ring Sunday night. Four of those players are not-so-surprisingly with the Giants; from 1991-1993, Tom Coughlin served as the Eagles’ head coach, so the Giants’ sideline boss certainly hasn’t forgotten his BC roots.
Rutgers and Michigan are each represented by five players, while Florida, Fresno State, LSU, Miami and Virginia will have four apiece.
The Sun Belt’s Troy, in another surprise, will have three players in the game, along with Arkansas, Michigan State, Ole Miss, Penn State, Purdue and Tennessee. All told, 31 1-A teams will be represented by at least two players.
(Writer’s note: Fresno State (MWC), Missouri (SEC), TCU (Big 12), Texas A&M (SEC), UMass (MAC) and West Virginia (Big 12) were included in their new 2012 conference homes. And, yes, I’m well aware of the uncertainty surrounding WVU’s move from the Big East.)
The only surprise here is that there isn’t more Hurricanes since they have more players in the NFL than anyone else!
This is the reason that being star rated out of high school means so little. That’s all we have heard about in the last month and so many of them do not make it in the college ranks, or at least what they were expected to do. That is why picking the right college for your position is so important. Just as this is true so is the fact that many top college players never make it in the NFL. Talent is something that continues to grow if taught and worked on. The best NFL players can come from anywhere. Also why Belichek is always at the top of this league. He knows how to evaluate talent and how to use what he has. Can’t wait for Sunday!!!
If Belicheat was sooooo good at evaluating talent why does he have the 31 ranked defense……….. With all those draft picks you would think it would be better!……. In fact if he didn’t luck into Brady he would have been fired a long time ago………….. Just like in Cleveland!!!!!
By the way dolfan1: You are incorrect on Miami having more players than any other team. They have exactly 48, as does Ohio State and Texas, exactly 48. As far as Belichek, If he’s so bad why is he playing in his 5th SUPERBOWL. Where is your favorite active coach on that list?
I’m just saying if he got Brady in Cleveland he would still be there! It’s not about the x’s and o’s it’s the Willies and the Joe’s or in this case THE TOM………. 48 is pretty good for a team that hasn’t been any good in 10 years!!!
The real shame is that no CFT fans will be watching the Super Bowl because they don’t watch rematches. The Giants and Patriots already played during the regular season, and the Giants won. So what would be the point of playing again? The Giants have already won the series. If the Patriots win the Super Bowl, does that mean they split the series? Since it’s a rematch, I guess that just renders their regular-season meeting meaningless. But “they” told us every game would count!! It’s not fair!!!
The Patriots deserve to be there because they have the better record. But New York? Ugh. All they do is kick field goals. Why don’t the Pats play Green Bay instead? Green Bay’s coach thinks the Packers should get the shot. He’s a man. He’s 48!
I’m not watching a rematch. I hope their ratings suck–that will teach them. I’m going to watch the Tosh.0 marathon instead!
Just because your title is tainted don’t take it out on the Super Bowl!
The only thing thats tainted is the 48 year old wussy and his fans. Well written Deb… Razorback fan here and I don’t care for BAMA. just the truth!!!
Deb, the difference is that the NFL settled it on the field with playoffs… Your little story is pretty weak… You come across a little defensive…
It’s you who come across weak little phillyb6. Is that 6 your age? In this case there is nothing to defend. You of coarse have to defend the little 48 year old man and all his fans who cry like a wussy. I have no idea who Deb is, but she is 100% right on what she wrote. And the CFB national championship was settled on the field. The 2 BEST teams in the country played for it. You know pokie A&M had the best year of it’s life this last year. It is terrible that they have shamed themselfs to a point that nobody cares
Deb,
By SEC logic, the Packers should be playing the Chiefs tomorrow.
Packers = 15-1
Chiefs = played the Packers the best this season
See how many ways we can take these analogies?
@dolfan1
Miami does? I thought USC does…they had 55 on active rosters to start the season. I know USC had the most NFL starts…and had the most drafted of any school last year.
@lanzurrah…… I like USC but they only have 37 player in the nfl right now….. As mrslay1 was so nice to point out Miami has 48, and not just 48 but some of the most dominating players in the nfl. At one point they had and nfl record 14 consecutive years with someone drafted in the 1st round and a nfl record 6 players in the 1st round in one draft!!!
The Hurricanes once had a streak of 149 consecutive regular season weeks where a former Hurricane scored a touchdown in an NFL game; the streak started in Week 15 of the 2002 NFL regular season and ended in Week 11 of the 2011 season. During the streak, 33 different former Hurricanes scored touchdowns and a total of 661 touchdowns were scored.
since 1999 Hurricanes players were picked 33 times in the first-round, the most of any Division I university. From the 2001 Miami Hurricanes football team alone, 17 players went on to compete in the NFL.
Cool story and stats.
In the end, it’s not fluff, but toughness that wins these games. The two top represented are classic, tough, hardnosed conferences.
@dolfan… well… as you said… all those the Hurricane players just aren’t good enough to get their teams to the SB. You’re living in the past in every post on this topic. The Pats have long lived down any conspiracy theory about their videos and Cleveland can’t seen to get out of their own way on either side of the ball on a regular basis. Where were the Pats before Belichik?
And…another incorrect comment…. what about when Brady went down in 2008 – Pats were still 11-5…. Why? Belichick and Staff built and coached a very good team.
2000-2011 – 139-53 – Belichick – 5 SuperBowls
1987-1999 – 109-82 – 4 others – 2 SuperBowls
Deb,
The difference is we had a playoff and the outcome produced a rematch. If the NCAA tournament ended in a rematch people would have no problem with that either because they played their way in.
@polegojim………. They may have went 11-5 without Brady but they didn”t make the PLAYOFFS!! lol
wow, didn’t expect that sort of response from Deb… The sarcasm is understandabe, but a bit low brow.
Dolphan, anyone who doesn’t respect the quality that has come out of Miami, is simply stupid and has no clue about football. With that said, NFL football is quite different from college ball. There is a reason why players come from all walks of life in the NFL and become great. Many players don’t get the real coaching they need until the NFL. The biggest reason everyone makes fun of “The U,” is because of the complete neanderthals some of the players have been (like swinging a helmet and Michael Irving).
Deb always takes the low road when someone has an opinion that is different than hers or if they don’t lavish praise on the team she supports. Quite puerile. Equivalating the NFL and BCS is terribly invalid since one is based completely on wins and has a playoff system while the other has no playoffs at all.
That is inorrect sir. You can go the the NFL rosters and count them for yourself. usc has 40. Grorgia-42 Lsu 46..Miani, Texas,Ohio State have 48. Those are the schools with the hight numbers
@mrslay1 …
Thank you. Yes, I’m a Bama fan, but unlike barbeaux, I have no reason to be bitter. We won. Decisively.
However, I’m also a writer with a wry sense of humor who likes to tweak pompous jerks. I got the same reaction when PFT wrote about this year’s record-breaking viewership and I pondered whether those who posted during the lockout that they’d never watch another game were enjoying the season. Now who do you suppose was giving me the thumbs down there? People don’t like being reminded about how they ran their mouths so foolishly and few of them take it with good humor.
I’m a strong advocate of a playoff, but we didn’t have one and that wasn’t the fault of the teams in that game. The unsportsmanlike comments posted then deserved a little roasting … and I had great fun writing it.
@deb LOL great post! Can’t believe some people like extremesportsmaniac didn’t get it.
@BrownsTown Great point, but I’m pretty sure you mean NCAA logic, not SEC.
@xtremesportsmaniac …
I’m a longtime vocal advocate for a playoff tournament, but still not altogether convinced you’re right about people being cool with a rematch that resulted from tourny play. If the SEC had gotten its way, we’d have had a plus-one matchup between Alabama and Oklahoma State. Even if Alabama had won that matchup to make the title game, people still would have complained. Many of these people will always find reason to gripe.
@Browns Town …
Come on, now. You’re capable of reading that for the riff it was. Or have you moved to the cheap seats?
mrslay1———- Can we just agree that NOBODY has MORE players than the HURRICANES in the nfl at this time?
That’s a big 10-4… Just wanted to keep the record straight:-) Miami has had a great run of top players since Shellenberger who started it all. I will never forget the Miami vs cornhuskers game when Miami won their first National Championship… I won big on that game:-)
Andy,
I did get what Deb was trying to do. I have read her posts on here for quite awhile and understand her sense of humor.
I just stated the reasons why this is different.
Deb,
I for one would have loved to watch Oklahoma State. I think this year just really pointed out the flaws in the BCS and I am not taking anything away from Bama.
The BCS has many flaws as do most things. I try to remember the way it was BEFORE the BCS and what the bowl game matchups brought. The BCS was formed to put the 2 BEST teams in the country in BCS championship game. I would have loved to watch Okie state or Standford play BAMA or LSU. Except for loyal fans very few have much doubt of those possible outcomes. But the top 2 teams in the country played. Okie state had a chance to be in that game and they lost it. The fact that Alabama was ranked where they were was the way the system worked. On any given year we have some kind of problem saying their team should be there. Lets remember that going into the bowl games that Stanford only had one lose as well. That of coarse means they had the same claim to the big game as Okie state except for the polls that okie state hate. You can’t have it both ways! In some years you may have 5 or 6 teams with one loss. What do we do then with a plus one. Then you need a 6 team playoff. How do you arange that? Bottom line, 4 teams will be better than 2, but 6 will be better than 4 and so on and so on. Wouldn’t bother me to have games till June, but not very practical:-)
Well, ladies and gentlemen … and barbeaux …
The argument about woulda, shoulda, coulda is moot. We played, we won, and I’m still basking in the afterglow. As a great lover of the pro game–where rematches are the most exciting contests of the year–I just found all the rematch angst surrounding the title game silly and idiotic. Appreciate the Giants and Pats giving me a chance to have a little fun with it. And knowing it put barbeaux’s nose even further out of joint just made it ever so much more special
Per SEC Slappie logic:
The big boys league (THE NFL) is the most overrated league in football….Everyone knows that the world revolves around the SEC.
@rashardmendenballs …
Baby, I hope you’re not one of my fellow Steeler fans. It’s always so embarrassing when a Steeler fan comes on here, makess up nonsense that has nothing to do with any comment the thread, and whines like a lil puppy because the Big 10 has been out of contention in recent years.
Six consecutive titles, darlin’. Six. That number should be familiar to a fellow Steelers fan.
And this SEC fans loves the Big Boys.
So … bye!!!!
@dolfan…. why sure WHOOHOOO…
But…. here are the stars of the game.
Manning – Mississippi
Manningham – Michigan
Pierre-Paul – South FLA
Jacobs – Southern ILL
Tuck – Notre Dame
Bradshaw – Marshall
Umenyiora – Troy
What a great game!!! Was anyone else watching?
Brandon Jacobs doesn’t count as an Auburn guy anymore?
And in the end … this Super Bowl was lower-rated than last year’s!!
ROFL!!!
I doubt that any of the BC players is even from New England. Figures, given that the vast majority of New England men are wusses.
Tell me, boys … when surgeons perform a humorectomy, do they go through the rectum?