15 Days to B1G Basketball: 33 Former Big Ten Players on Opening Day NBA Rosters

In case you missed it, the NBA tipped off this week back on Tuesday. While I personally prefer the college game, something I think a lot of you will agree on, it's still nice to have basketball in some form this month. Especially for me as it's the first time since the Buccaneers won the Super Bowl that one of my favorite teams (Golden State) has won a title. Good times indeed.

That being said, let's take a look at the former Big Ten players that ended up making an opening day roster in the NBA. While this year's number sits at 33 players, it should also be noted that a number of Big Ten players were participating with teams throughout the preseason and numerous former conference stars will be participating in the D-League this season, with the potential to make it to the NBA at some point this season. Look no further than last year's D-League MVP and Rookie of the Year, Tim Frazier (Penn State), who used a successful stint in the D-League to secure Portland's backup point guard spot this season. Oh, and if we're talking D-League awards I should probably mention that former Ohio State Buckeye Aaron Craft, to no surprise, took home the award for defensive player of the year.

Out of the 33 players in the association, 11 teams are technically represented. Technically because all three former Maryland players (Steve Blake, Alex Len, Greivis Vasquez) played for the school when they were a member of the ACC. Teams that don't currently have a NBA player on an opening day roster include Nebraska, Northwestern and Rutgers.

Anyways, here's the list of players per school:

Illinois
Meyers Leonard (Portland)
Deron Williams (Dallas)

Indiana
Eric Gordon (New Orleans)
Victor Oladipo (Orlando)
Noah Vonleh (Portland)
Cody Zeller (Charlotte)

Iowa
Devyn Marble (Orlando)

Michigan
Trey Burke (Utah)
Jamal Crawford (Los Angeles Clippers)
Tim Hardaway Jr. (Atlanta)
Mitch McGary (Oklahoma City)
Glenn Robinson III (Indiana)
Nik Stauskas (Philadelphia)

Michigan State
Alan Anderson (Washington)
Branden Dawson (Los Angeles Clippers)
Draymond Green (Golden State)
Gary Harris (Denver)
Adreian Payne (Minnesota)
Zach Randolph (Memphis)

Minnesota
Kris Humphries (Washington)

Ohio State
Mike Conley (Memphis)
Kosta Koufos (Sacramento)
D'Angelo Russell (Los Angeles Lakers)
Jared Sullinger (Boston)
Evan Turner (Boston)

Penn State
Tim Frazier (Portland)

Purdue
Carl Landry (Philadelphia)
E'Twaun Moore (Chicago)

Wisconsin
Sam Dekker (Houston)
Duje Dukan (Sacramento)
Devin Harris (Dallas)
Frank Kaminsky (Charlotte)
Jon Leuer (Phoenix)

Leading the way for the Big Ten is Michigan and Michigan State, both of which have six players currently on a NBA roster. Behind them are Ohio State and Wisconsin, both with five players, followed by Indiana (4), Illinois (2), Purdue (2), Iowa (1), Minnesota (1) and Penn State (1). Also, the previously mentioned Maryland has three players, but all were technically members of the ACC throughout their collegiate career.

The number of players this year increased from last year, when 32 players made opening day rosters.