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Which Big Ten Program Has The Most Players In The 2015 NBA Playoffs?

As the NBA Playoffs tip-off, let's take a look at the Big Ten players that will be participating.

By Thomas Beindit
Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

The Big Ten has had a mixed relationship with the NBA in recent years, but with a few strong draft classes in a row, the conference's strength and relevance at the next level is really starting to show up. With the NBA regular season wrapped up and the Playoffs soon beginning, it seemed like a good time to take a look at the Big Ten players who will be participating in the 2015 NBA Playoffs. There are a bunch of them and many on teams with a real shot to win it all.

For the raw stats, there are 20 Big Ten players on NBA teams headed to the Playoffs. Considering that there are 16 teams in the Playoffs, that isn't too bad for the conference. I may not be a math wizard, but that averages out to more than 1 player per team.  In actually numbers, these players are on 11 of the 16 Playoff teams.  The NBA team with the most Big Ten players right now are the Memphis Grizzlies with 4 players from the conference. Apparently, Memphis is a big fan of Big Ten NBA prospects.

What's interesting is that those numbers could continue to rise with several key prospects already eligible or declared for the 2015 NBA Draft and more likely on the way.  Along with this, the Big Ten is set to bring in a very talented 2015 recruiting class as a conference that has plenty of players with NBA potential.

This group is also very diverse as it comes from 10 different programs.  This is not a case like the SEC where one team is churning out the vast majority of conference's NBA prospects.  The Big Ten has several teams that have put more talent into the Playoffs than others, but it is largely a group effort with players coming from different teams.

But let's get into the thing everybody wants to know: how does the conference stack up? Which programs have the most NBA talent in the Playoffs? Well, here's your answer:

Big Ten NBA Playoff Participants By School:

  • Ohio State - 4
  • Michigan State - 3
  • Wisconsin - 3
  • Illinois - 2
  • Maryland - 2
  • Michigan - 2
  • Indiana - 1
  • Minnesota - 1
  • Penn State - 1
  • Purdue - 1
  • Iowa - 0
  • Nebraska - 0
  • Northwestern - 0
  • Rutgers - 0

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