First Among Peers

With so many people getting polled this preseason -- media, coaches, and even fans -- shouldn't somebody ask the players what they think? Sports Illustrated did. After questioning one starter from all 119 Division 1-A teams, it looks like the Trojans are pretty popular among their peers:

• 49.5% picked USC to win the national championship. Florida was second with 17.6%.
• John David Booty was runner-up in the preseason Heisman hype with 10.1% to Darren McFadden (Arkansas) at 58%.
• Pete Carroll was the man 28.6% of players would like to play for if they couldn't be with their current coach. Urban Meyer (Florida) trailed with 10.9% and JoePa (Penn State) had 10.2%.

Among the other interesting findings, 76.5% favored additional compensation beyond scholarships -- possibly because 46.2% spent at least 40 hours per week on football-related activities. Also, 73.1% favored a playoff system, 53.8% agreed with the ban on text messaging recruits, and 39.5% read message boards or blogs about their team.