The finalists for the Big 12 football championship game, which returns in 2017, are believed to be Dallas, San Antonio and Kansas City, a source familiar with the process told CBS Sports.
The league intends to award games in a five-year block from 2017-21. The games could go to one location or any combination of those cities, the source said.
Houston and NRG Stadium did not bid on the game due to a conflict with the SWAC Championship Game.
The list of three finalists should come as no surprise. The three cities hosted 11 of the 15 championship games when the Big 12 played such a game from 1996-2010: Kansas City (five), San Antonio (three), Dallas area (three).
All of the Requests For Proposal are believed to be filed with the Big 12. The next steps would be to review those proposals and then award the games.
A final decision should come sometime after the first of the month on Tuesday. Based on history, geography and past performance, it would be fair to say AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, would be an overwhelming favorite to get at least one of those games.
The conference's presidents decided to bring back the championship game at league meetings in June.
The league will decide in the next couple of weeks how it will structure the conference beginning next season, Bowlsby said. That would be choosing between divisions and the current single-table format.
