Tom Dienhart, BTN.com Senior Writer, January 25, 2013

The Big Ten is loaded with great point guards. In fact, no conference may have a better collection. There?s Michigan?s Trey Burke, Minnesota?s Andre Hollins, Ohio State?s Aaron Craft, Indiana?s Yogi Ferrell and Michigan State?s Keith Appling, among others. The collection would be even better if Penn State?s Tim Frazier and Wisconsin?s Josh Gasser weren?t out for the season with injury.

And the future looks bright with freshmen like Purdue?s Ronnie Johnson and Iowa?s Mike Gesell, in addition to Ferrell.

Having such a good collection of lead guards will go a long way toward helping the league perhaps capture its first national championship since Mateen Cleaves led Michigan State to the summit in the 1999-2000 season. The Big Dance is all about guard play.

Knowing that, I polled seven Big Ten beat writers, asking them to rank their top five point guards in the conference. First place votes got five points, second place four, third place three, and so on.

I'm going to do these Big Ten writer surveys for the rest of the season with some other questions, but below are the results for the point guard question, and you won't be shocked to hear that Burke was first on all seven ballots.

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1. Trey Burke, Michigan, 35 points

Per Game Team G GS MPG PPG RPG APG SPG BPG TOPG PFPG FG% 3P% FT%
2011-12 Mich 34 33 36.1 14.8 3.5 4.6 0.9 0.4 2.8 1.6 .433 .348 .744
2012-13 Mich 19 19 33.7 17.8 2.9 7.2 1.3 0.5 1.8 1.7 .504 .382 .797
Career 53 52 35.2 15.9 3.3 5.5 1.0 0.4 2.4 1.6 .460 .360 .762

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2. Keith Appling, Michigan State, 29 points

Per Game Team G GS MPG PPG RPG APG SPG BPG TOPG PFPG FG% 3P% FT%
2010-11 MSU 34 18 22.9 6.4 2.8 1.3 0.6 0.5 1.6 2.2 .436 .411 .895
2011-12 MSU 37 37 30.8 11.4 2.9 3.9 1.2 0.4 2.3 2.4 .427 .250 .788
2012-13 MSU 20 20 34.1 14.1 3.5 4.3 1.7 0.6 2.4 2.3 .421 .317 .779
Career 91 75 28.6 10.1 3.0 3.0 1.1 0.5 2.0 2.3 .427 .327 .798

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3. Aaron Craft, Ohio State, 19 points

Per Game Team G GS MPG PPG RPG APG SPG BPG TOPG PFPG FG% 3P% FT%
2010-11 OhioSt 37 1 29.6 6.9 2.9 4.8 2.0 0.1 2.1 2.7 .461 .377 .727
2011-12 OhioSt 39 39 32.2 8.8 3.2 4.6 2.5 0.2 2.2 2.5 .500 .359 .713
2012-13 OhioSt 18 18 31.8 8.9 3.2 4.7 2.1 0.1 1.8 2.4 .385 .320 .816
Career 94 58 31.1 8.1 3.1 4.7 2.2 0.1 2.1 2.6 .459 .355 .737

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4. Andre Hollins, Minnesota, 12 points

Per Game Team G GS MPG PPG RPG APG SPG BPG TOPG PFPG FG% 3P% FT%
2011-12 Minn 37 21 21.1 8.7 2.1 1.8 0.9 0.1 2.1 2.2 .393 .379 .904
2012-13 Minn 19 19 27.9 13.8 2.9 3.7 1.3 0.5 2.6 2.3 .443 .418 .772
Career 56 40 23.4 10.5 2.4 2.4 1.0 0.3 2.3 2.2 .414 .396 .844

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5. Yogi Ferrell, Indiana, 10 points

Per Game Team G GS MPG PPG RPG APG SPG BPG TOPG PFPG FG% 3P% FT%
2012-13 Ind 19 19 27.6 7.1 2.9 4.6 0.8 0.1 1.9 1.3 .381 .297 .771
Career 19 19 27.6 7.1 2.9 4.6 0.8 0.1 1.9 1.3 .381 .297 .771

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Others receiving votes: Dave Sobolewski, Northwestern (4th on one ballot); Tracy Abrams, Illinois (5th on one ballot ); D.J. Newbill, Penn State (5th on one ballot).

About Tom Dienhart BTN.com senior writer Tom Dienhart is a veteran sports journalist who covers Big Ten football and men's basketball for BTN.com and BTN TV. Find him on Twitter and Facebook, read all of his work at btn.com/tomdienhart, and subscribe to his posts via RSS. Also, send questions to his weekly mailbag using the form below and read all of his previous answers in his reader mailbag section.

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