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Wisconsin spent one-tenth of what Indiana did on recruiting

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The Indianapolis Star has put together a list of the recruiting expenses for all of the Big Ten teams, and, perhaps not all that surprisingly, Indiana tops the list.

By a wide margin.

The Hoosiers spent $673,708 on recruiting during 2013-14 while no other team in the league even spent $500,000. The next three highest? Illinois ($431,327), Nebraska ($416,096) and Minnesota ($359, 056).

Perhaps what’s most interesting is that the best basketball programs in the league have some of the lower recruiting budgets. Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State are all right around $250,000. Maryland, who is a preseason top two team this season, is 11th at just over $100,000 while Wisconsin -- who is coming off of back-to-back trips to the Final Four -- checked in at $62,000, which is less than a tenth of what Indiana spent.

There are explanations for this. Much of it is likely due to accounting techniques, but remember: Indiana recruits nationally while Wisconsin tends to go after players from the Midwest, particularly those in-state. Bo Ryan doesn’t need a private jet to pull Sam Dekker out of Sheboygan.

You can read through the entire list here.