photo by: Nick Krug

Texas Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes II (5) runs for a first down past Kansas linebacker Marcquis Roberts (5) during the first quarter on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas.

For the third time in the last four years, the Kansas football program didn’t have a player selected in the NFL Draft.

But looking around the Big 12 Conference, it wasn’t just the Jayhawks who didn’t have much to celebrate in the three-day, seven-round spectacle.

The Big 12 ranked a distant last among Power Five conferences in players drafted. In fact, the Big 12 had one fewer player selected (14) than the American Athletic Conference (15). According to Sports Illustrated, it was the Big 12’s fewest draft picks since the conference was formed.

Michigan led the country with 11 players picked in the 2017 draft — only three behind the Big 12 — and Alabama followed with 10.

The Big 12 has some disadvantages on the number of players picked with only 10 schools and it doesn’t help when the University of Texas isn’t producing its usual level of talent. Only five players from the Big 12 were picked in the first three rounds.

Another factor could include the spread/Air Raid offense that’s become popular in the conference, which is vastly different than the pro-style offenses preferred by NFL teams with a quarterback under center.

It’s a long drop from 2010 when the Big 12 produced four of the top six draft picks: Oklahoma had three of the top four overall selections.

After the Kansas City Chiefs traded up to select Texas Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes, and no other Big 12 player was picked Thursday, it marked the first time since 2008 that the Big 12 only had one player chosen in the first round.

There were warning signs ahead of the draft that it wasn’t going to be friendly to Big 12 talent. Only 19 players from the conference were invited to the NFL combine. Among the other Power Five conferences, the Pac 12 had the fewest with 46.

But the Big 12, which didn’t have a team qualify for the College Football Playoff, dropped from 26 players picked in last year’s draft to its worst-ever output.

Another surprising number, via NFL.com, 28 of the 95 early entrants went undrafted (29 percent), which included three players from the Big 12.

Players picked by conference
SEC: 53
ACC: 42
Pac 12: 36
Big Ten: 35
AAC: 15
Big 12: 14

Big 12 draft picks
Round 1 — Patrick Mahomes, QB, Texas Tech (Chiefs, No. 10).
Round 2 — Joe Mixon, RB, Oklahoma (Bengals, No. 48).
Round 3 — Jordan Willis, OLB, Kansas State (Bengals, No. 73); D’Onta Foreman, RB, Texas (Texans, No. 89); Rasul Douglas, CB, West Virginia (Eagles, No. 99).
Round 4 — Dede Westbrook, WR, Oklahoma (Jaguars, No. 110); Semaje Perine, RB, Oklahoma (Redskins, No. 114).
Round 5 — Shelton Gibson, WR, West Virginia (Eagles, No. 166).
Round 6 — Jordan Evans, LB, Oklahoma (Bengals, No. 193); Vincent Taylor, DT, Oklahoma State (Dolphins, No. 194).
Round 7 — Josh Carraway, OLB, TCU (Titans, No. 227); Elijah Lee, LB, Kansas State (Vikings, No. 232); Kyle Fuller, C, Baylor (Texans, No. 243); Christopher Carson, RB, Oklahoma State (Seahawks, No. 249).