If I'm a Big Ten fan looking at NFL.com draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah's list of the top 50 players in college football, frankly I'm looking on in horror. Yes, the league has three -- Michigan OT Taylor Lewan, Ohio State CB Bradley Roby and Ohio State OLB Ryan Shazier -- of the nation's top 14 players. But there aren't any more league players on the list. Zero. Zip. Nada.
Heck, the AAC -- you know, the remnants of the old Big East coupled with some newcomers from Conference USA -- has three of the top 18. And the ACC has six of the top 50. Even the Mountain West has two in the top 33.
What is happening in the Big Ten? Ohio State coach Urban Meyer has chided his coaching cohorts in the league for their recruiting ability (or inability), and this list shows that the Big Ten is not keeping up, especially not with the SEC -- three players from Alabama alone in the top six and 19 league players in the top 50 -- and the Pac-12, which boasts 12 in the top 50.
I fully expect Ohio State to be in the national title hunt this fall -- one reason is that the Buckeyes are more talented than anyone in the league, but the main reason is that there simply aren't that many high-level teams in the league. And this list shows that. Everyone knows you have to have high-level players to have high-level teams. The Big Ten doesn't have enough high-level players.
