Way to many “thanks for your participation” bowls these days IMO. When the 12 team playoff system begins in 2024 those Bowls become more meaningless.
Unfortunately though those bowls bring money to conferences so thay are here to stay.
You answered your own question.... it's all about money.
Bowl games played without a championship at stake for me, are not meaningless.
Historically, using OU as an example, some of OU's greatest bowl games were played without a national championship on the line. I count at least 15 such games.
And from a player's and coaches' perspective, bowl games are a reward for hard work and two weeks of valuable practice, aside from the chance to add one more win for that season.
No doubt some bowls feature teams that are not that good, as was the case with Rice (with its 5-win season) last month. That was a head-scratcher to me.
But as a long time college football fan, I see many of these "meaningless" games as some of the most entertaining football I've seen all season.... as was the case in the OU-FSU game last week. No OU fan should consider that game "meaningless".
There are four more games today that could be worth watching.
And how many of us won't tune in to the USC-Tulane game?
