This could be the best showing by the Big Ten in the NFL draft since, well, last year.
If Illinois defensive stars Kevin Hardy and Simeon Rice go in the top five on Saturday, it will be the first time two players from the same school went that high since Penn State’s Ki-Jana Carter and Kerry Collins went Nos. 1 and 5 last year.
It really doesn’t occur that often. Michigan State’s Bubba Smith and George Webster went Nos. 1 and 5 in 1967.
What’s unusual about Illinois’ feat is the team finished 5-5-1. Penn State and Michigan State won the conference crowns when they had two superstars. The Nittany Lions also had the ninth player selected last year, tight end Kyle Brady.
Northwestern, last season’s Big Ten champion, will have zero players drafted if the talent lists are even close to accurate. The highest-ranked Wildcat on Joel Buchsbaum’s authoritative chart in Pro Football Weekly is Sam Valenzisi, the seventh-ranked placekicker among a group unlikely to have anyone drafted.
Big Ten runner-up Ohio State boasts three almost certain first-rounders–Heisman Trophy-winning running back Eddie George, tight end Rickey Dudley and wide receiver Terry Glenn.
Michigan running back Tim Biakabutuka and Purdue fullback Mike Alstott also are projected as first-rounders. Michigan wide receiver Amani Toomer is a borderline first-rounder, as is Notre Dame wide receiver Derrick Mayes, the only high-rated member of the Fighting Irish.