NBA Finals and Big Ten are virtual strangers

There are many who would have you believe Big Ten basketball is something quite special.

Is it a very good conference with very good players and very good coaches? Of course. Is it College Basketball Mecca? Not at all.

I offer two examples. In the Miami-San Antonio Finals that begin tonight, there is but one player among the two teams who played in the Big Ten. That was Greg Oden of Ohio State. He has played a total of five minutes in the postseason.

Meanwhile, six Atlantic Coast Conference products dot the two rosters, including Tim Duncan and Chris Bosh. The Big 12 has four former players in the FInals. The SEC has three, the Big East, Pac-12 and West Coast Conference have two.

The Horizon League and Blinn College have as many as the Big Ten.

OK, now let's look at the All-NBA teams that were released Wednesday. Of the 15 players on either the first, second or third teams, none were from the Big Ten. Only 10 played U.S. college ball.

The Big 12 leads the way with three (Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin, LaMarcus Aldridge). The Pac-12 has two (James Harden, Kevin Love). The ACC, SEC, Mountain West, Southern and Big Sky have one player each.

Twenty-five other players got votes. Only two - Mike Conley and Zach Randolph - are former Big Ten players. Conley came in 29th in the voting, while Randolph tied for 30th.