Nobody Has More Starting Quarterbacks in the NFL Playoffs Than the Big 12
With college football in the rearview, the attention now shifts to the NFL. After a long season, the playoffs are finally here.
Since the new playoff format came into place in 2020, there are now a total of 14 playoff teams instead of 12. The Baltimore Ravens are the top seed in the AFC while the San Francisco 49ers hold the top seed in the NFC. There is no doubt that those two teams are the best teams in their respective conference when healthy.
While I am excited for the NFL postseason to begin, I wanted to take a moment and appreciate what the Big 12 tweeted out on Thursday.
Out of the 14 teams, five of them are led by former Big 12 quarterbacks. Let’s take a look at each of the starting quarterbacks for each team and see where they went to school.
AFC
Baltimore Ravens: Lamar Jackson (Louisville)
Buffalo Bills: Josh Allen (Wyoming)
Kansas City Chiefs: Patrick Mahomes (Texas Tech)
Houston Texas: CJ Stroud (Ohio State)
Clevland Browns: Jow Flacco (Delaware)
Miami Dolphins: Tua Tagovailoa (Alabama)
Pittsburgh Steelers: Mason Rudolph (Oklahoma State)
NFC
San Francisco 49ers: Brock Purdy (Iowa State)
Dallas Cowboys: Dak Prescott (Mississippi State)
Detroit Lions: Jared Goff (Cal)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Baker Mayfield (Oklahoma)
Philadelphia Eagles: Jalen Hurts (Oklahoma)
Los Angeles Rams: Matthew Stafford (Georgia)
Green Bay Packers: Jordan Love (Utah State)
Now let’s break down how many starting quarterbacks each conference has.
NFL Playoffs Starting Quarterbacks By Conference
Big 12: 5
SEC: 3
Mountain West: 2
Pac-12: 1
ACC: 1
Big Ten: 1
CAA: 1
You can say whatever you want about the Big 12 Conference not having enough draft picks compared to other conferences but when you look at this, it more than makes up for it.
When it comes to on-the-field performance, NOBODY has better quarterbacks than the Big 12. There’s a reason why so many former Big 12 quarterbacks are in the playoffs. It’s because they were prepared.
