2011 NFL Draft: First round by the numbers

Ten players from SEC schools heard their names called in Radio City Music Hall Thursday night as the first round of the NFL Draft took to primetime. Auburn Tigers Heisman Trophy quarterback Cam Newton was selected with the first pick by the Carolina Panthers and five more SEC players were drafted before the top ten was through.

Here is a breakdown of the NFL Draft picks, broken down by college football conference.

SEC (10)

Alabama had the most players in the first round drafted Thursday night. Former Heisman winner Mark Ingram is heading to New Orleans, where he will play with another Heisman winning running back in Reggie Bush. Fans of the Detroit Lions are drooling over the future of their defensive line with Auburn's Nick Fairley set to join Ndamukong Suh. The Atlanta Falcons gave up a stockpile of draft picks to have a chance to draft Alabama's Julio Jones after the team failed to work a deal to be able to draft Georgia's A.J. Green, who went to the Cincinnati Bengals.

QB Cam Newton (Auburn) - 1st, Carolina Panthers
DT Marcell Dareus (Alabama) - 3rd, Buffalo Bills
WR A.J. Green (Georgia) - 4th, Cincinnati Bengals
CB Patrick Peterson (LSU) - 5th, Arizona Cardinals
WR Julio Jones (Alabama) - 6th, Atlanta Falcons
DT Nick Fairley (Auburn) - 13th, Detroit Lions
OL Mike Pouncey (Florida) - 15th, Miami Dolphins
OL James Carpenter (Alabama) - 25th, Seattle Seahawks
RB Mark Ingram (Alabama) - 28th, New Orleans Saints
OL Derek Sherrod (Miss. State) - 32nd, Green Bay Packers

Big 12 (8)

Texas A&M linebacker Von Miller went second overall to the Denver Broncos, which was a mild surprise. Missouri, Colorado and Baylor each had two players selected in the first round and Oklahoma and Texas had zero first round draft picks. We included Colorado and Nebraska in the Big 12 list because these players were Big 12 players. Colorado is heading to the Pac 12 and Nebraska is heading to the Big Ten next season.

LB Von Miller (Texas A&M) - 2nd, Denver Broncos
DE Aldon Smith (Missouri) - 7th, San Frnacisco 49ers
QB Blaine Gabbert (Missouri) - 10th, Jacksonville Jaguars
OL Nate Solder (Colorado) - 17th, New England Patriots
CB Prince Amukamara (Nebraska) - CB, New York Giants
DL Phil Taylor (Baylor) - 21st, Cleveland Browns
OL Danny Watkins (Baylor) - 23rd, Philadelphia Eagles
CB Jimmy Smith (Colorado) - 27th, Baltimore Ravens

Big Ten (6)

The Big Ten got off to a late start in having their players announced on Thursday night but the conference ended up with six first round draft choices. Wisconsin defensive end J.J. Watt will join former number one pick Mario Williams on the Houston Texans defensive line. In fact, defensive line was the Big Ten's specialty in the first round with five picks coming off the defensive line. The only offensive player drafted was Wisconsin offensive lineman Gabe Carimi.

DE J.J. Watt (Wisconsin) - 11th, Houston Texans
DE Ryan Kerrigan (Purdue) - 16th, Washington Redskins
DT Corey Liuget (Illinois) - 18th, San Diego Chargers
DL Adrian Clayborn (Iowa) - 20th, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
OL Gabe Carimi (Wisconsin) - 29th, Chicago Bears
DT Cam Heyward (Ohio State) - 31st, Pittsburgh Steelers

Pac 10 (3)

One of the many surprises in the first round of the NFL Draft was when the Tennessee Titans drafted Washington quarterback Jake Locker with the eighth overall pick. Locker was the second quarterback selected and few people had him going as high as eight. The Pac 10 didn't have to wait long for their next player to be selected, with USC offensive tackle Tyron Smith being drafted by the Dallas Cowboys with the ninth pick. Smith became the first offensive lineman drafted by Dallas since Jerry Jones became the owner.

QB Jake Locker (Washington) - 8th, Tennessee Titans
OT Tyron Smith (USC) - 9th, Dallas Cowboys
DE Cameron Jordan (Cal) - 24th, New Orleans Saints

ACC (3)

Florida State's Christian Ponder easily became the top drafted quarterback in Seminoles history when the Minnesota Vikings picked him with the 12th overall pick. Ponder also became the first ACC player selected in the first round. Clemson defensive end Da'Quan Bowers slipped past the first round and could be an early pick-up in the second round Friday night.

QB Christian Ponder (Florida State) - 12th, Minnesota Vikings
DE Robert Quinn (North Carolina) - 14th, St. Louis Rams
OL Anthony Castonzo (Boston College) - 22nd, Indianapolis Colts

Big East (1)

The Big East scored the fewest first round draft picks among the conferences with an automatic BCS bid, and the pressure was one late in the round to even get one draft pick. Pittsburgh's Jonathan Baldwin was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs to keep the Big East in the mix.

WR Jonathan Baldwin (Pittsburgh) - 26th, Kansas City Chiefs

MAC (1)

Only one player from a non-AQ conference heard his name mentioned in the first round. Temple's Muhammad Wilkerson is heading to the New York Jets, representing the Owls in the first round for the first time since 1987 when running back Paul Palmer was selected with the 19th overall pick by the Kansas City Chiefs. Wilkerson is Temple's third all-time first round draft pick.

DT Muhammad Wilkerson (Temple) - 30th, New York Jets

The NFL Draft continues Friday night with the second and third round, and concludes with rounds four through seven on Saturday. Follow NFL Draft coverage on Examiner.com.