ESPN College Football Confidential Poll 2015: Full Results and Reaction

ESPN The Magazine released its confidential poll of 99 college football athletes online Wednesday, spanning topics from which program would win the national title this season and which star would take home the Heisman Trophy to which coach the players would least want to play for.

Here are the results:

Topic	Result
Who will win the Heisman in 2015?	Trevone Boykin, TCU QB (17 percent), Ezekiel Elliott, Ohio State RB (16 percent), "Whoever starts at QB for Ohio State." (7 percent)
The four playoff teams will be:	Ohio State (88 percent), Alabama (82 percent), Oregon (53 percent), TCU (41 percent)
This year's champion will be:	Ohio State (30 percent), Alabama (26 percent), Oregon (9 percent), TCU (9 percent)
Other than your own, who is the best coach in the country?	Nick Saban (37 percent), Urban Meyer (25 percent), Gary Andersen (4 percent), Jimbo Fisher (4 percent)
Who is the last coach you'd want to play for?	Nick Saban (11 percent), Jim Harbaugh (10 percent), Todd Graham (8 percent), Mike Leach (8 percent)
I think the playoff system is better than the BCS.	Yes (93 percent), No (7 percent)
How many teams should be in the playoff?	Eight (58 percent), Four (21 percent), Six (13 percent)

According to the ESPN article, "Not all athletes answered every question [and] percentages are rounded," while the percentages for the teams making the playoffs tabulated those teams that appeared in a player's four-team prediction for the postseason.

Notably, the players seemed fairly convinced that a member of Ohio State has an excellent chance to win the Heisman Trophy this year, be it running back Ezekiel Elliott or either J.T. Barrett or Cardale Jones. And it's fascinating that Nick Saban was deemed both the best coach in college football and the coach the most players wouldn't want to play for.

That contradiction might be easier to explain if 11 percent of the players polled came from SEC schools other than Alabama.

Less surprising was the fact that Ohio State is a heavy favorite to win the national title after last year's triumph and the return of so many star players, as well as that the polarizing Jim Harbaugh was a coach many of the players wouldn't want as their coach.

"I hate Jim Harbaugh," one anonymous Big 12 player told ESPN The Magazine. "He's arrogant and pompous and thinks he's the best."

Harbaugh tends to elicit strong feelings from people.

“He’s either crazy...or he’s crazy like a damn fox," Virginia Tech head coach Frank Beamer said of Harbaugh, per Lars Anderson of Bleacher Report.

If Harbaugh can lead Michigan back to prominence, however, folks might change their tune on the crazy fox in khakis.