BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Five cities ended up bidding for the new Champions Bowl -- New Orleans, Arlington, Atlanta, Houston and San Antonio, according to sources familiar with the process.

ESPN first reported earlier this week that at least five of the 10 cities with bid packages sent in proposals. Phoenix, Nashville, Tampa, Orlando and Jacksonville also were offered the chance to submit bids, which were due Wednesday.

The SEC and Big 12 will evaluate the proposals over the next several weeks and jointly discuss their pros and cons. New Orleans and Arlington are considered the overwhelming favorites.

The Champions Bowl will be part of the national semifinals four times during a 12-year cycle beginning with the 2014 season. In the other years, the game is supposed to match the SEC and Big 12 champions.

When either champion participates in the playoffs, the conference would provide another team for the Champions Bowl. If the SEC and/or Big 12 champion isn't selected for the playoffs in a year the Champions Bowl hosts a semifinal, those teams would be assigned to another major bowl that's part of the playoff rotation.

A big difference with the Champions Bowl's bidding process is a city could propose the usual lump-sum guaranteed payout to the conferences, or offer a minimum guarantee, a management fee it retains, and a structure to share revenue. Until now, SEC bowls have offered a lump-sum guarantee. The management fee allows bowls to make a controlled amount of revenue.

This process will allow the SEC and Big 12 to gauge how much money the bowls have stockpiled into reserves and what they're willing to spend from those amounts. For example, the Sugar Bowl listed its 2009-10 net assets at $34.2 million and the Chick-fil-A Bowl reported $13.1 million in 2010-11.

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