By The Associated Press
The first round of the NFL draft opened and closed with players from the Southeastern Conference. It was a fitting way to mark the league’s record-setting night. The football powerhouse had 15 players selected in the first round. That smashed the previous mark of 12 set by the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2006 and matched by the SEC in 2013 and 2017. The SEC’s crop was flush with players from Alabama, which had four, and LSU, with five. The league fell one short of having as many players drafted in the first round as the rest of college football combined.