Michigan takes on Washington in Houston.

Both## are undefeated and aiming to win their# first national title since But, as Stephanie Sy explains, this championship# game is the end of an era for college football## with major changes coming next year.

STEPHANIE SY: Starting next year, the college## football playoffs will expand substantially,# allowing a dozen teams to compete for the title.

And that's just one of the# dramatic changes affecting## what has become an American pastime.# Just before the bowl NCAA President Charlie Baker unveiled a# new proposal that would impact all college## sports.

It would allow Division I schools# to pay athletes directly for the first time.

Colleges that participated would have# to set aside a minimum of $30,000 per## athlete for at least half of all# its athletes.

Schools also could## have direct agreements with athletes# over their name, image, and likeness.

Pat Forde is covering all of# this.

He's a senior writer for## "Sports Illustrated" and joins me from Houston.

Pat, I'm reminded about something# Deion Sanders said recently about## the conference realignments# in college football.

He said,## all this is about money.

It's about a# bag.

And everyone's ch How does this new proposal by Charlie# Baker affect the chase for the money bag?

PAT FORDE, "Sports Illustrated": Well, I# think it's an acknowledgement, Stephanie,## that the bag is the game,# that that is what's going And that if the NCAA is going to stay# ahead of the lawsuits that are hounding## them and trying to basically force# an employee-employer relationship,## if they want to maintain any kind# of antitrust exemption, if they## want to get Congress to help maintain college# sports as even remotely what I think they see this as a necessary step, that# they have to give some of the proceeds directly to## the athletes and can't cloak it in other means or# fashions, but just literally hand them the money.

STEPHANIE SY: And for all the# reasons you just described,## this is just a beginning.

It's very complex.

If schools, though, were allowed eventually to# directly pay athletes, would to the athletes who play large revenue-generating# sports like football, or does it actually increase## opportunities for good athletes that# might not get the big endorsement money?

PAT FORDE: Well, that still# remains to be seen to a degree,## but there are certainly concerns# about wher And we will start to learn more at the# NCAA convention here in the wh ere we're going to get maybe a# little bit more detail on proposals## or counterproposals that have been made# in this area.

But we're ta minimum of $30,000 for half of the school's# athletes.

Who is that half?

Who gets that?

We can rest assured the football players are# going to get theirs.

The men's basketball players## are almost assuredly going to get theirs.

There# will be a Title IX component to this, where women# athletes also would get theirs, some of them.# But then who doesn't?

Where is that line drawn?

And I think, if you're in an Olympic sport,# and probably in a men's Olympic sport,## you probably are thinking that you're# going to have a hard time getting a hold## of that money.

And the other thing# there, the other pie we're talking about a minimum of# $30,000 for half of your athletes.

A lot of them are going to pay a lot more than# that.

So we're talking $6 million, $8 million,## $12 million maybe per year which maybe schools# would have to budget for.

And that's going to## weed some of the schools out of competition# for the biggest prizes in the sports too.

STEPHANIE SY: Nick Saban, Alabama's head# coach, has described college football as## heading in a semipro direction already.

Saban's# had a lot to say about all of this, of course.

But does Charlie Baker's proposal# show that college sports are bound## to become a completely free market enterprise?

PAT FORDE: Well, I mean, it's another step# that direction.

And then the qu the NCAA, as they often do with rules# here, they're hoping to thread a need which keeps it from being# flat-out professional sports,## that keeps it from athletes being employees,# that keeps the NCAA's antitrust status.

I don't know whether they're going# to be able to pull this off.

I mean,## there are lawsuits right now pending that cou NCAA schools.

And so they're kind of backed# into a corner here, and they're trying to## figure out a way to keep college sports as# part of campus and part of higher education.

But it gets harder and harder with each# kind of erosion of the NCAA's stance## in a lot of these things.

So this is the# next step, and it's a strategic retreat,## I guess you would say, towards# something that may be sustainable.

But, again, they're going to need help# from Congress.

They're going to need to## win some battles probably in court or# to get people to dro STEPHANIE SY: Does the proposal have legs?

PAT FORDE: Yes, it does, absolutely.

Now, what we're going that we're going to hear counterproposals# and people that will probabl some holes in this thing, and at least to# say, let's find a little bit better way.

Charlie Baker's proposal, while certainly# bold and a big step forward and something## that I think needed to happen, it's very# light on details.

And the devil has always## been in the details of trying to# work out something for hundreds,## if not thousands of colleges# at multiple different levels.

And one key part of this proposal is potentially# a super division of schools 60 , 80 schools, and they can be further# deregulated in what they can give to athletes,## in terms of what they can afford.

Now,# the problem there is that it further## widens the gulf in something that people, I# think, like to see all comers, so to speak,## a 120-school division of college -- major college# football, a 350-school division of major college## basketball that makes the NCAA Tournament so# much fun when the underdogs win those games.

Do we eventually move the big dogs so# far away that there is no relation with## those other schools?

That's kind of where# they're trying to find the line there.

STEPHANIE SY: And speaking of college# football, I can't let a senior "Sport Illustrated" writer go without getting his take# on the championship game c Pat, what will you be looking out for in# this matchup between Washington and Michigan?

PAT FORDE: Yes, should be a great matchup.

Really# looking forward to it, the passin Washington with Michael Penix quarterback and the# receivers, a lot of first round NFL talent there,## against really the brute force and blunt force# of Michigan in the way of their style of play.

And Michigan's been under the microscope# with some controversies about NCAA rules## this year.

They have handled it.

They have# answered all questions.

We have got two 14-0## teams playing each other.

We're going to have# a very worthy champion one way or the other.

STEPHANIE SY: Pat Forde with "Sports Illustrated."

Thanks so much for joining us, Pat.

PAT FORDE: Thank you, Stephanie.