Can't Wait For Saturday | Big Ten seems to be having a good time in Detroit

Greetings from "Can't Wait For Saturday," your morning morsel of college football, courtesy of longtime Illini beat writer, AP Top 25 voter and Heisman state rep Bob Asmussen. He'll give you his views each day on the game he loves

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What do you know, the Big Ten is leading. But there are four more rounds to go.

The new look Big Ten and its 18-team mega-conference had 33 players picked in the NFL draft. So far. That is two more than the SEC. To be fair, even with the additions of Oklahoma and Texas, Nick Saban's former league has two fewer schools than the one run by Tony Petitti.

In the first round, there were 10 Big Ten players selected, with six of the first 11.

There were 10 more in the second round and a jump to 13 in the third round.

At one point late Friday, Michigan had three consecutive players picked. Just before Blake Corum, Roman Wilson and Zak Winter got the call, Illinois tight end Tip Reiman became the third player drafted from his team.

No surprise, national champ Michigan has celebrated the most picks with seven. But 12 Big Ten schools overall have been part of the 2024 draft, with Indiana, Michigan State, Nebraska, Northwestern, Purdue and Wisconsin waiting for their first draftees. Remember, four more rounds Saturday.

For the record, the ACC has 15 picked so far and the Big 12 has 10.