For the 18th consecutive NFL Draft, the SEC produced more picks than any other conference. But for the first time since 2017, an SEC program was not the top producer of selections.

Michigan broke the SEC’s run by having 13 of its players chosen among 257 taken in last week’s 89th NFL Draft. But the Wolverines did not finish on top of the draft’s bottom-line standings, another ranking that has had the SEC on top for six consecutive drafts.

Washington did.

After not producing a single draft choice in 2023, the Huskies had 10 players picked in 2024, and they will sign contracts with a combine value of about $101.031 million.

The bottom-line standings are a ranking of the total value of the contracts that will be signed by each college program’s draft class as the players enter the NFL.

Over the past six years, the winner of the bottom-line standings also had been at least tied for the top single producer of players. But Michigan came in fourth in the bottom-line standings for 2024 at $81.389 million.

Each drafted player receives a four-year contract. The values of those contracts are based on the NFL’s salary cap of $255.4 million for the 2024 season and this year’s rookie compensation pool in a formula spelled out in the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the league and its players association. That makes it possible to estimate the money allotted to each draft slot (and the sports financial website spotrac.com has done so).

Because the values of the contracts decrease throughout the draft, the position of the drafted players made the difference for Washington, which had the No. 8, No. 9 and No. 20 picks in this year’s draft along with four other players selected in the top 100.

The teams between Washington and Michigan in the bottom-line standings also had three players in the first round.

LSU produced the No. 2, No. 6 and No. 23 picks, allowing its six drafted players to total contracts worth about $99.643 million.

Alabama had the No. 7, No. 17 and No. 24 picks, leading its 10 drafted players to total contracts worth about $95.284 million.

While Washington lost 10 players in the draft, it also lost its coach, Kalen DeBoer, to Alabama this offseason.

During the SEC’s streak, Alabama led the bottom-line standings in 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2023, with LSU winning in 2020 and Georgia winning in 2022.

Alabama had the most players selected in 2018, 2019, 2021 (tied with Ohio State) and 2023 (tied with Georgia). LSU had the most in 2020, and Georgia had the most in 2022.

The 10 college programs whose drafted players will sign for the most money this year include:

1. Washington: $101.031 million by 10 players

2. LSU: $99.643 million by six players

3. Alabama: $95.284 million by 10 players

4. Michigan: $86.157 million by 13 players

5. Texas: $81.389 million by 11 players

6. Florida State: $75.294 million by 10 players

7. Georgia: $73.490 million by eight players

8. Southern Cal: $67.55 million by seven players

9. Penn State: $64.61 million by eight players

10. Notre Dame: $62.702 million by seven players

Auburn ranked 24th in the bottom-line standings with five players set to sign for a combined $21.133 million.

The 10 colleges with the most players picked in the 2024 NFL Draft were (each with the number of players chosen and its finish in the bottom-line standings):

1. Michigan: 13 players (fourth in the bottom-line standings)

2. Texas: 11 (fifth)

3. Alabama: 10 (third)

3. Florida State: 10 (sixth)

3. Washington: 10 (first)

6. Georgia: Eight (seventh)

6. Oregon: Eight (11th)

6. Penn State: Eight (ninth)

9. Notre Dame: Seven (10th)

9. Southern Cal: Seven (eighth)

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.