Tom Dienhart, BTN.com Senior Writer, November 22, 2011

The best player in the Big Ten? It has been a moving target for much of the season. Several players have occupied the top spot. In what has been the Year of the Running Back, it?s no surprise that a ball carrier tops this week?s edition of the Top 25 Players in the Big Ten.

Watch our Next Level guys preview Week 13 matchups now and see Tom's full Top 25 list in this post.

1. Montee Ball, RB, Wisconsin – Last Week: No. 2
2. Russell Wilson, QB, Wisconsin – LW: No. 1
3. Lavonte David, LB, Nebraska – LW: No. 3
4. Kirk Cousins, QB, Michigan State – LW: No. 4
5. Whitney Mercilus, DE, Illinois – LW: No. 7
6. Marcus Coker, RB, Iowa – LW: No. 11
7. Marvin McNutt, WR, Iowa – LW: NR
8. Jonathan Brown, LB, Illinois – LW: NR
9. Devon Still, DT, Penn State – LW: No. 12
10. Jerel Worthy, DT, Michigan State – LW: No. 6
11. Dan Persa, QB, Northwestern – LW: No. 14
12. Mike Taylor, LB, Wisconsin – LW: No. 5
13. Denard Robinson, QB, Michigan – LW: No. 18
14. Jeremy Ebert, WR, Northwestern – LW: NR
15. Chris Borland, LB, Wisconsin – LW: No. 16
16. Silas Redd, RB, Penn State – No. 21
17. A.J. Jenkins, WR, Illinois – LW: No. 13
18. Drake Dunsmore, TE, Northwestern – LW: NR
19. Isaiah Lewis, S, Michigan State LW: 23
20. Jacob Pedersen, TE, Wisconsin – LW: NR
21. Rex Burkhead, RB, Nebraska – LW: No. 8
22. John Simon, DT, Ohio State – LW: No. 9
23. Alfonzo Dennard, CB, Nebraska – LW: No. 25
24. James Vandenberg, QB, Iowa – LW: No. 20
25. Micah Hyde, CB, Iowa – LW: NR

By school
5 - Wisconsin
4 – Iowa
3 - Illinois, Michigan State, Nebraska, Northwestern
2 - Penn State
1 - Michigan, Ohio State

By position
5 - Quarterback
4 - Defensive line, linebacker, running back
3 - Defensive back, wide receiver
2 - Tight end

Tom Dienhart is a senior writer for BTN.com. Find all of his work at www.btn.com/tomdienhart, follow Dienhart on twitter at @BTNTomDienhart, and click here to subscribe to his RSS feed. You can send him your football questions to his Big Ten mailbag, too.