General manager Chris Ballard only selected players from the Big Ten and SEC in the 2026 Draft

Abby Halpin

The Colts went eight-for-eight in the 2026 NFL Draft with selections from the two best conferences in college football.

General manager Chris Ballard selected players from Georgia (LB CJ Allen), LSU (S AJ Haulcy), Kentucky (G Jalen Farmer and RB Seth McGowan), Oregon (LB Bryce Boettcher), Florida (DE George Gumbs Jr.), Ohio State (DE Caden Curry), and Oklahoma (Deion Burks).

They all have something in common: each played for the Big Ten or SEC.

"As you speak to other people who scouted everybody on this list, the consistent theme is going to be their competitiveness," Southwest Area Scout Mike Lacy said. "We know for a fact that we got tougher with this year's draft."

Since the introduction of the College Football Playoff in 2014, the Big Ten and SEC have accounted for ten of the 12 national champions.

The competitiveness from top to bottom in both conferences forces players to be tougher. Otherwise, they won't make it in both the Big Ten and SEC. The Colts felt they needed players who had that mentality.

"It's not the NFL, but it's probably the closest thing you can get," Ballard said of the SEC. "We talked a long time about getting guys that have play history and really had high competitive stamina."

It's not just viewers of college football that know of the caliber of play in the Big Ten and SEC. It's even more tangible for the players in the thick of it.

"The speed and the physicality of the SEC," Gumbs said of what sets the SEC above the rest. "It's a lot of big guys moving real fast."