So we’re back to the same ol’ game:

Start the college pigskin season with some inaccurate polls based on assumptions, know said polls determines who will play for the mythical (yes, it’s still mythical until you have a playoff) championship game, and wait for excuses from pollsters/coaches on why anyone but a big school from a handful of conferences has the right to play for all the marbles.

What a country, eh?

Good news?

The first AP Top 25 poll has some slight differences: Georgia is number one (while a football power, it’s nice to not see OSU, USC or LSU at the top), and ‘07 upstarts Missouri, Kansas, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Arizona State and Texas Tech are all in the top 15, with South Florida, Illinois and Wake Forest also making the poll.

The bad: Guess who’s still getting votes?

Notre Dame. You remember them, the 3-9 squad that lost by at least two touchdowns eight times and dropped six home games, including one to Navy (who hadn’t beaten the Irish since 2003).

Two writers gave them a 25th-place vote, including Jon Wilner of The San Jose Mercury-News (we’d name the other writer, but the AP hasn’t released everyone else’s vote yet) for the reason, from what we’ve seen, of nothing more than the school being Notre Dame. And while we credit Jon for detailing his vote (and the transparent AP for making them public while the cowardly coaches refuse to), his reasoning is exactly the problem.

Read about Wilner’s flawed logic after the jump.

Wilner says:

“I’m not buying what the Irish are selling (Clausen! Weis! Weis’ recruits!), but I took a hard look at the schedule. It’s filled with mediocre teams, which means 7-5 or 8-4 is reasonable for a team with UND’s experience. Unless Charlie just can’t coach. We’ll know in a few months”

Multiple flaws: Clearly Jon IS buying what the Irish are selling with recruit talk; otherwise you wouldn’t rank them this high!

What about the 3-9 squad gives you the impression that, without recruits, they’d improve? That’s one HUGE reason you would rank them this high; the ‘07 players showed no ability to win games in the future.

Second flaw: The assumption of an easy schedule.

While the Irish face only two teams starting the year ranked in the top 25 (USC and Pittsburgh), Notre Dame plays three squads - Michigan State, Michigan and Purdue - that handily beat it in ‘07, and have better teams entering ‘08 than Notre Dame (though Michigan State is the only road game). The Irish also travel to Washington, Boston College, North Carolina and Navy (none superb, but all but Navy are BCS schools, and road games are never gimmes). The only guarantees look like home dates with San Diego State, Syracuse and Stanford.

Third flaw: That this team can finish 7-5 or 8-4, justifying a top 25 ranking.

This highlights the problem: Voting for Notre Dame just for the sake of voting for Notre Dame. MAYBE 8-4 (provided you actually get a good win), but what other school makes the poll finishing 7-5? Here’s how many five-loss teams ended 2007 in either the coaches’ or AP pollsters’ top 25: Zero. One more than negative one.

If you’re filling the ballot solely because those seven wins come against mediocre squads, the purpose of the vote is lost.

The problem with Wilner’s ballot is the same as others: He assumes what will happen in the future, and votes that way, ignoring the purpose of deciding who the best team at the time is.

Why is Georgia sixth on his ballot? Because they have a tough schedule; he admits they have the most talented team, though.

Why is Florida first? Talent and schedule.

Why is Penn State ninth? Weak schedule.

Why is Auburn so low? Tough schedule.

Why is Arizona State so low? Tough schedule.

This simply assumes the voter is smarter than everyone else in determining the future. We’ve turned the polls into a Miss Cleo convention. And there’s no better proof than this vote.