At this very moment there's a good chance that at least one of the about 900 Heisman Trophy ballots is making its way -- either through cyberspace or priority mail -- to the accounting firm in New York City that tabulates the votes for the Downtown Athletic Club, which sponsors the award.

There's no more prestigious individual award in American sports than the Heisman, which goes to the best college football player in America. Nor is there any more relentlessly hyped award than the Heisman.

With promotional giant ESPN leading the way, and the print media falling right in line as an unpaid co-conspirator, the hype begins in August and never stops. It's understandable ESPN would be interested in promoting the Heisman. The network is tightly involved with college football, which is a regional sport. But the Heisman is not regional. It's national. It ties the country together. An SEC game won't draw much interest in California and a Big East game even less. But if there's talk of the Heisman before, during and after the game, which there invariably is, those Californians might stay tuned if one of their players is in the mix.

By contrast, what is probably the second most prestigious individual sports award, a Major League Baseball MVP, barely gets a mention until September, the final month of the baseball season. By then, the 30 voters for both of the two MVP awards, usually have an excellent idea of who the leading candidates are and which is the most deserving.

With the Heisman, however, even at this late date, few voters have a real handle on who the most outstanding football player in America is, even if there are favorites. All most of the voters know is who's getting the most hype. This isn't a knock on the voters, most of whom are knowledgeable and some of whom are expert. It's just that there's no definition of the most outstanding player.

For example: Last year's winner was Troy Smith, the Ohio State quarterback who won by one of the largest margins in Heisman history, tallying almost three times as many votes as runner-up Darren McFadden, the Arkansas running back.

Is there anyone out there who believes that Troy Smith was the best college football player in America last year? I hope not.

Who can better evaluate college players than the NFL? No one. It's their livelihood and they do it quietly and with purposefulness. Smith was drafted in the fifth round by the Baltimore Ravens, a team for which he has yet to play this season. According to the NFL, Smith was not the best college football player in America and not even one of the best 100.

He might have been the best on the best team, but that's doubtful, too. He possibly was the MVP of college football, but that's not what the Heisman is about.

This is precisely why after about 25 years of voting, I declined the opportunity this year. I didn't want to be part of the charade that I had been part of for so long. The Heisman is great for promoting college football, but it's a joke of an award.

Here's how far off Heisman voters are in picking the best college football player in America:

The first pick in the NFL draft last year was JaMarcus Russell, a quarterback from LSU. He did not finish among the top 10 in Heisman voting. The year before the top pick was Mario Williams, a defensive end from Houston. He did not finish in the top 10 in Heisman voting. The year before it was quarterback Alex Smith of Utah. He finished fourth in the Heisman voting.

Additional Heisman idiocy: In 1996, the winner was Florida quarterback Danny Wuerffel. Peyton Manning was eighth. In 1989 the top five finishers were four quarterbacks and a running back: Andre Ware, Anthony Thompson, Major Harris, Tony Rice, Darian Hagan.

The problem is this: There are too many positions in football. For voting purposes in baseball, the best players are either pitchers or hitters. That makes it easy. In basketball and hockey, it's easier. The best players are the top scorers.

It's not so easy in football. Sure, all eyes are on quarterbacks and running backs. But more often than not, it's an offensive lineman or a defensive back, players with few stats and little hype -- the necessities for getting votes. Or it could be a defensive lineman or linebacker. No one is going to vote for a player at that position.

The truth is nobody knows who the best college football player in America is. It's impossible to determine because of the amount of players, the number of teams and the lack of anything approaching a round-robin schedule involving the majority of the best teams.

The Heisman Trophy might be the most prestigious award in sports but it's also the most meaningless.