Besides tackling two wars, a market meltdown and health care, Barack Obama has a chance to bring true change -- to college football.

Rep. Jim Matheson says the president-elect may be "The One" to finally bust the BCS.

"I know the economy and energy and health care are bigger -- I understand the relative priority," the Utah Democrat said Friday. "But we are talking about millions of dollars. It's reasonable to ask the question."

Especially since Obama has already lined up against the controversial Bowl Championship Series. During recent interviews on "60 Minutes" and "Monday Night Football," the president-in-waiting suggested the system be scrapped in favor of a playoff to determine the national champ.

So Matheson and two fellow congressmen sent a letter this week to Obama pushing him to indeed blow up the "fundamentally unfair" BCS.

"With the support of the U.S. Department of Justice, we believe the BCS system could be replaced with a fair, inclusive playoff system," the congressmen wrote.

The lawmakers, all from states with non-BCS conferences, argue the oft-criticized BCS is an illegal restraint of trade, in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. They insist the lopsided distribution of revenue relegates non-BCS schools to second-class status.

During the last Congress, Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii, along with Matheson and Rep. Michael Simpson, R-Idaho, drafted a resolution calling on the Justice Department to investigate the BCS and "take action to end this illegal system."

"It's just not fair," said Matheson, who broadcast college football games during his days at Harvard. "If you're not one of the chosen six conferences, you have to go undefeated to have a shot."

Matheson said he has no interest in seeing Congress devise a playoff. Rather, he thinks the "new guy" in the executive branch could instill some fairness.

BCS coordinator John Swofford told ESPN he and his colleagues "welcome dialogue on what's best for college football."

With a win today against rival BYU, the University of Utah could be in the money as a BCS-buster for the second time in five years. Abercrombie's Hawaii crashed the party last year, while Simpson's Boise State did it two years ago. But despite the prospect of going undefeated this season, Boise could be left out of this year's BCS.

Obama, who seems to have scored bipartisan backing with the issue, favors an eight-team playoff -- change many football fans can believe in.

djensen@sltrib.com