It’s the endless debate in college football: To playoff or not to playoff? And if to playoff, how to playoff? Still with me? Good, because another entity has thrown its opinion into the ring and that’s the Mountain West Conference. I’ll pardon your look of bewilderment, but yes there is a Mountain West Conference.

USA Today reports that the oft disrespected conference, justifiably still indignant over Utah’s slight, recently huddled together and emerged with a plan. This plan calls for an eight-team playoff system to determine a national championship instead relying on the current BCS standings, which are figured through polls and computer rankings.

The plan was revealed in a conference call by Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson and comes two months after league champion Utah went unbeaten and defeated Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, but missed out on playing for the national championship.

Under the proposal that would start in 2010, the standings that decide the 10 teams playing in the five BCS games would be determined by a 12-member committee consisting of one representative from the 11 Division I-A (FBS) conference and one from Notre Dame.

Nice thought, guys, but not exactly an original idea. In fact, many have championed the eight-team playoff system, most notably of late: The Great and Almighty President Obama. When he spoke eloquently of hope and change, he didn’t just mean for the country’s masses, but for college football as we know it.

Amidst worrying about the economy and that Iraq situation, Obama has spoken out about the cruelty of the BCS standings and the fairness of the playoff system. Way back in November, ESPN reported this:

During the Monday Night Football broadcast the night before the Nov. 4 election, Obama said, “I think it’s about time we had playoffs in college football. I’m fed up with these computer rankings and this that and the other. Get eight teams – the top eight teams right at the end. You got a playoff. Decide on a national champion.”

But don’t think that the duties and burdens of being president have changed Obama’s mind or led him to forget about his great cause. Even in January, Obama could be seen and quoted, here in CBS, talking about the system:

But he might receive the most attention for what he said about the Bowl Championship Series when asked about Florida's win over Oklahoma last night. As he has done before on ESPN and on 60 Minutes, the president-elect reiterated his call for a playoff to decide the national college football champion.

"If I'm Utah, or if I'm USC or if I'm Texas, I may still have some quibbles," he said. "That's why we need a playoff."

So, college football gods out there, if you’re not going to listen to the Mountain West Conference (and really, why should you?) listen to our fearless leader. The economy may still be a mess and the Iraq situation may be far from resolved, but that doesn’t mean the little guy in the NCAA can’t dream of a national championship. Let them dream.