Thought this was interesting, NCAA CFB Player Poll: Look at Q #8

[Brad]

The players speak

Weighing in on the Heisman, national champ, more

We asked one starter from each of the 119 Division I-A teams the following questions about college football and the upcoming season. Here's how they responded:

1. Who is your preseason favorite to win the national championship?

USC: 49.5%

Florida: 17.6%

LSU: 8.4%

West Virginia: 5.9%

Michigan: 5.0%

Texas: 4.2%

Others receiving votes: 7.6%

Declined to respond: 1.8%

Notes: Players were asked not to vote for their own school... The top six schools in SI.com's survey are the exact same, in a slightly different order, as the teams in the preseason coaches' poll... Arkansas, Ohio State and Miami each received two votes... All but one eligible Pac-10 school voted for USC.

Quotable: A Pac-10 player on why USC will win the national championship: "Every year they're stacked, and with everyone they have coming in, they're going to be stacked for the next five years." ... Said an ACC player, who voted for LSU, in support of the SEC: "They're very talented on both sides of the ball, the only downfall is they play in a very difficult conference, so it's difficult not to lose more than one game."

2. Who is your preseason favorite to win the Heisman?

Darren McFadden, Arkansas: 58.0%

John David Booty, USC: 10.1%

Steve Slaton, West Virginia: 8.4%

Brian Brohm, Louisville: 4.2%

Colt Brennan, Hawaii: 3.4%

Others receiving votes: 11.7%

Declined to respond: 4.2%

Notes: Players were asked not to vote for teammates... McFadden's support was unilateral: 35 votes were from BCS schools, 34 were from others... Other quarterbacks receiving votes were Michigan's Chad Henne (2), Florida's Tim Tebow (2) and West Virginia's Pat White (1)... Florida's Percy Harvin was the only wide receiver to receive a vote.

Quotable: One Big 12 player wasn't ready to hand the Heisman to McFadden just yet: "You can't really fly under the radar out there at USC. A lot of people are talking about the kid at Arkansas, McFadden, but [John David] Booty has as good a shot as anyone." ... One Big Ten player said Slaton's superior team will help him win the trophy: "Slaton and McFadden both showed they can handle a lot last year, and they'll only get better. Slaton has a little more around him, though."

3. Which coach besides your own would you most like to play for?

Pete Carroll, USC: 28.6%

Urban Meyer, Florida: 10.9%

Joe Paterno, Penn State: 10.2%

Bobby Bowden, Florida State: 8.4%

Steve Spurrier, South Carolina: 6.7%

Jeff Tedford, Cal: 3.4%

Bob Stoops, Oklahoma: 2.5%

Mack Brown, Texas: 2.5%

Nick Saban, Alabama: 2.5%

Others receiving votes: 19.3%

Declined to respond: 5.0%

Notes: Twenty of the 34 players who voted for Carroll also picked USC to win the national championship... Carroll received a vote from at least one player in every conference except for the Sun Belt... Despite his team's success of late, Ohio State coach Jim Tressel received only two votes... Notre Dame's Charlie Weis received two votes and Michigan's Lloyd Carr received one... Eight of the 13 votes Meyer received were from players from non-BCS schools... Despite the parameters of the question, one MAC player voted for the deceased Bo Schembechler and one C-USA player voted for former Miami coach Larry Coker, insisting he would be a head coach again soon.

Quotable: Experience and legacy earned two of college football's most storied coaches many votes. One Big East player picked Joe Paterno, "just to say I played for Joe Paterno," while one Big Ten player picked Bobby Bowden because, "I'd love to pick his brain and learn from him."

4. Would you like to see college football institute a playoff?

Yes: 73.1%

No: 24.4%

Maybe: 2.5%

Notes: Seventeen of the 29 players who said they did not want a playoff were from BCS conference schools... The conference whose players were most against a playoff was the Big 12, with five of 12 voting no... All but one player from an SEC school said they would like a playoff, the highest percentage of any conference.

Quotable: An ACC player's opinion encapsulated both sides of the debate: "I have mixed feelings just due to the fact that the playoff system would be great at finding out the best team in college football, but the bowls and the BCS are what college football is all about -- the arguments and all that. It makes every game that much more important and exciting." ... One Big 12 player whose team played in a bowl game last year said, "I like the bowls. Some years you say it wouldn't be fair, but realistically, the teams that should make it do. And everyone knows at the beginning of the season that you have to win your games."

5. How many hours per week do you spend on football-related activities?

0-19: 4.2%

20-29: 14.3%

30-39: 35.3%

40-49: 31.1%

50 or more: 15.1%

Notes: Players were asked to estimate their hours during the football season... Ninety-seven of the 119 players polled, or 81.5 percent, estimated that they spent at least 30 hours per week... Excluding two extreme outliers (512 hours and 12 hours), the average figure was 38.9... The average for BCS schools was slightly higher than their non-BCS counterparts, with BCS players averaging 39.4 and non-BCS averaging 38.4. ... A small handful of players mentioned their obligation to go to class as part of their "football-related" activities.

Quotable: Despite the anonymity granted by this survey, several players were worried about admitting to practicing more than 20 hours per week. Said one player, "What's the NCAA rule, 20? All right, I better say that." ... A Big 12 player, who estimated he spent between 40 and 50 hours per week on football-related activities during the season, lamented the long hours of a college football player: "Playing football at any major university is a lifestyle. I always make sure I'm eating right. I always make sure to get extra work in on my own. I go to class and the rest of the time I'm doing football stuff."

6. Should NCAA athletes be compensated beyond their scholarships?

Yes: 76.5%

No: 23.5%

Notes: Numerous players drew a distinction between wanting to be paid like professional athletes and wanting more scholarship money... The amount of time players spend on football-related activities is strongly linked to a desire for additional compensation... The conference with the most "no" responses was the Big Ten, with seven.

Quotable: Most players said they want additional compensation because they do not have time to hold jobs, but some, such as this Pac-10 player, feel cheated out of the profits of college sports: "The NCAA, I'm sure, isn't losing money. The universities, for the most part, aren't losing money. I guess you'd have to be fair, but I'm biased as a football player because we're making the money and bringing people to games." ... Said one ACC player: "I don't think we should be paid like pro athletes, but I do believe there should be an increase in stipends and things like that." ... Added one Pac-10 player: "This is our job, we have a lot of responsibilities and we bring in a lot of money for the school. We can't get real jobs because that distracts from school and football."

7. Do you agree with the NCAA's recent decision to ban text-messages in recruiting?

Yes: 53.8%

No: 41.2%

Other: 5.0%

Notes: Of the six players who gave answers classified as "other," three said they were not sure and the other three gave nuanced answers that acknowledged both the positives and the negatives of the decision... Many of the players interviewed had not heard that this rule change had been passed by the NCAA... Because this survey was conducted primarily among upperclassmen, many of the players were less informed about this subject matter because text messaging was less of an integral part of recruiting three, four and five years ago. Said one Big Ten player: "When I was getting recruited, text messaging was a really new thing. I never received a text message from my coach."

Quotable: One ACC player couldn't understand why it took so long for the rule change to happen: "It completely defeats the point of having a dead period. A lot of people don't even call each other anymore anyway. So if you're not allowed to call, it's no different at this point." ... Several players wondered why they had outright banned the practice instead of placing more of a limit. Said one Pac-10 player, "It's kind of a step backwards. I figured they'd just put restrictions like they do with phone calls. A lot of kids would rather just get a quick text from the coach that's recruiting them than sit through a long phone call."

8. Do you read message boards or blogs where fans discuss your team?

Yes: 39.5%

No: 60.5%

Notes: For the purposes of this survey, if a player answered "sometimes," it was counted as a "yes" response... Twenty-four players answered "yes" outright, while 23 answered "sometimes." ... Approximately 68 percent of BCS players responded "no," compared to approximately 51 percent of non-BCS players.

Quotable: "I read it if I want to have a good laugh," said one Big 12 player. "Don't get me wrong, I think it's great that they're showing their opinions, but at the end of the day, they don't know what's going on." ... Most players who responded "no" said the people who write on message boards or blogs do not know what they're talking about. Said one MAC player: "My grandma could guess the same thing."

Additional reporting by Kate Macmillan, Elizabeth McGarr, Sunnnie Redhouse, Lindsay Schnell and Shannon Whitehead.

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[Herman_Momart]

My Grandma is pretty good at guessing too. 

[Brad]

and if she had balls (it's possible), she'd be your Grandpa.