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A Utah congressman hopes President-elect Barack Obama will help get rid of the BCS.
Rep. Jim Matheson, as well as congressmen from Idaho and Hawaii, have written a letter to Mr Obama, hoping for his help in taking on the BCS. He may do it -- he said this to 60 minutes: "I'm gonna throw my weight around a little bit. I think it's the right thing to do. "
The congressmen say the Bowl Championship Series violates the Sherman Anti-trust Act and is an illegal restraint of trade. They want a playoff instead. Mr. Obama told 60 Minutes and Monday Night Football he wants a playoff too.
Transcript from 60 MinutesSteve Kroft: I have one last question. As president of the United States, what can you do, or what do you plan to do, about getting a college football playoff for the national championship?
Mr. Obama: This is important. Look, excuse me for a second.
Michelle Obama: Please. Don't mind me.
Mr. Obama: I think any sensible person would say that if you've got a bunch of teams who play throughout the season, and many of them have one loss or two losses, there's no clear decisive winner that we should be creating a playoff system.
Eight teams. That would be three rounds, to determine a national champion. It would, it would add three extra weeks to the season. You could trim back on the regular season. I don't know any serious fan of college football who has disagreed with me on this. So, I'm gonna throw my weight around a little bit. I think it's the right thing to do.
E-mail: mrichards@ksl.com
