OK, everyone has had a few days to digest how their favorite pro team fared in the draft. We decided to take a look at the "Power 5" conferences and see how they did.
Included is a listing of each "Power 5" school's number of draftees in the 2000s and their most recent first-round pick. If a player is designated with an asterisk (*), it means he was the earliest selection from a school that had multiple first-round picks that year.
LSU led the way with nine draftees this year. Alabama and Notre Dame had eight each, and national champion Florida State had seven. Auburn, which fell to FSU in the national title game, had four draftees.
This is a look at how the Big Ten performed in the 2014 NFL Draft:
» The Big Ten had 30 players selected, fourth-most among the conferences but 13 ahead of the Big 12, which was in fifth place.
» Every Big Ten school except Illinois and Northwestern had at least one player selected. Ohio State had the most, with six draftees.
» There were four first-rounders, tied for third-most (with the AAC) among the conferences.
» Position of interest: The Big Ten's most popular position was wide receiver, with five selected. The league had seven offensive linemen (including four tackles) and four corners drafted.
School-by-school look at the Big Ten in the draft in the 2000s:
Illinois
» 35 draftees, five first-rounders (most recent DE Whitney Mercilus in 2012) | Illnois draft history
The buzz: The Illini were shut out in the 2014 draft, the first time that has happened since 2006.
Indiana
» 17 draftees, no first-rounders (most recent WR Thomas Lewis in 1994) | Indiana draft history
The buzz: Indiana had two players drafted in 2014; the Hoosiers had been shut out in 2012 and '13.
Iowa
» 55 draftees, six first-rounders (most recent OT Riley Reiff in 2012) | Iowa draft history
The buzz: The 2014 draft marked the third time in the past nine drafts that Iowa has had at least two linebackers selected.
Michigan
» 59 draftees, 10 first-rounders (most recent OT Taylor Lewan in 2014) | Michigan draft history
The buzz: OT Jake Long went first overall in the 2008 draft. But the Wolverines have had just two first-rounders, including Lewan, and only 15 draft picks overall in the past six drafts.
Michigan State
» 44 draftees, five first-rounders (most recent CB Darqueze Dennard in 2014) | Michigan State draft history
The buzz: The Spartans have had 42 wins in the past four seasons, but only 12 draft picks in the same span, including just three players taken in the first three rounds.
Minnesota
» 22 draftees, two first-rounders (most recent RB Laurence Maroney in 2006) | Minnesota draft history
The buzz: The Golden Gophers had two players selected in the 2014 draft, giving them four total in the past six drafts.
Nebraska
» 60 draftees, four first-rounders (most recent CB Prince Amukamara in 2012) | Nebraska draft history
The buzz: CB Stanley Jean-Baptiste was one of four Huskers drafted in 2014. He was a second-round pick, just the fourth Nebraska player taken earlier than the third round in the past seven drafts.
Northwestern
» 18 draftees, two first-rounders (most recent DT Luis Castillo in 2005) | Northwestern draft history
The buzz: Northwestern didn't have a player drafted in 2014; that's the third time in four years the Wildcats were shut out in the draft.
Ohio State
» 92 draftees, 19 first-rounders (most recent LB Ryan Shazier* in 2014) | Ohio State draft history
The buzz: The Buckeyes had two first-rounders in 2014; they had had just one in the previous four drafts combined.
Penn State
» 56 draftees, 10 first-rounders (most recent DT Jared Odrick in 2010) | Penn State draft history
The buzz:Allen Robinson went in the second round this year and was the first Penn State wide receiver drafted since 2009.
Purdue
» 39 draftees, three first-rounders (most recent DE Ryan Kerrigan in 2012) | Purdue draft history
The buzz: Purdue had two players drafted this year; the school hasn't had more than two players go in a draft since 2008.
Wisconsin
» 65 draftees, 12 first-rounders (most recent C Travis Frederick in 2013) | Wisconsin draft history
The buzz: Wisconsin didn't have an offensive lineman drafted in 2014; the Badgers had had seven offensive linemen selected in the past three drafts.
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.
