NBA playoffs are Iowa, ISU-free

Nursing both a bruised toe and burnout, I spent too much of a nice weekend watching NBA playoff games.

But I did pick up a bunch of twigs in my backyard, so it wasn't totally a sedentary two days.

Back to the NBA. A few of the games were really good. The Portland-Houston game late Sunday night was sensational. But something struck me. The only player sin the whole shebang that I've even had a conversation with are Kevin Garnett of Brooklyn and Harrison Barnes of Golden State.

There are no former Iowa or Iowa State players in the playoffs. That covers 16 teams, and 15 players per team.

Only four ex-Hawkeyes or Cyclones are in the league. Reggie Evans of Iowa and Royce White of Iowa State are with Sacramento, Chris Babb of ISU is with Boston, and Diante Garrett of ISU is with Utah. They're watching the playoffs just like I am, from a distance.

Anyway, I wondered where all these players come from, the ones who didn't come to the NBA from overseas or straight out of high school, back when that was allowed. By the way, that worked out pretty well for LeBron James, Dwight Howard and Garnett.

Here's what I found: Of all the players in the playoffs, not very many come from the Big Ten, period.

The Big Ten has 14, just a few less than the Big 12's 18. The ACC has 39. And the SEC, not exactly a top-to-bottom basketball hotbed, has 33.

Here's the breakdown:

BIG TEN (14)

Ohio State 4

Michigan State 3

Illinois 2

Indiana 2

Wisconsin 2

Michigan 1

BIG 12 (18)

Texas 7

Kansas 6

Kansas State 2

Baylor 1

Oklahoma 1

Oklahoma State 1

ACC (39)

North Carolina 9

Duke 8

Florida State 4

Wake Forest 4

Miami 3

Boston College 2

Georgia Tech 2

Maryland 2

Pittsburgh 2

Clemson 1

N.C. State 1

Virginia 1

PAC-12 (28)

UCLA 6

Stanford 4

Arizona 3

Arizona State 2

California 2

Colorado 2

USC 2

Utah 2

Washington 2

Washington State 2

Oregon 1

SEC (33

)

Florida 10

Kentucky 7

Arkansas 4

LSU 4

Vanderbilt 3

Texas A&M 2

Alabama 1

Missouri 1

Tennessee 1

AAC (12)

Connecticut 6

Memphis 3

Cincinnati 1

Louisville 1

Temple 1

BIG EAST (16

)

Marquette 6

Creighton 2

Georgetown 2

Xavier 2

Butler 1

Providence 1

Seton Hall 1

Villanova 1

MOUNTAIN WEST (7

)

New Mexico 2

San Diego State 2

UNLV 2

Fresno State 1

OTHERS

Louisiana Tech 1

UTEP 1

Harvard 1

Gonzaga 1

St. Mary's 1

Western Kentucky 1

Murray State 1

Wichita State 1

Virginia Commonwealth 1

Tennessee State 1

Lehigh 1

Weber State 1

VMI 1

Bucknell 1

Cleveland State 1

BYU 1

Duquesne 1

La Salle 1

Arkansas-Little Rock 1

Detroit 1

Davidson 1

IUPUI 1

Towson 1