[Texas2step]

They weren't big enough to overcome voting collusion in the coaches poll

So, according to your definition, there were 13 "big dogs" who were ranked lower than California who did get to play on New Year's day? Including unranked West Virginia?

Or, maybe you're one of those who believe Cali was just overrated?

Count it anyway you want to. You're going to believe your own personal bias anyway. But, here's the facts:
Big 12
4 bowl victories (including one "biggie" by your definitions, and one over the #4 team in the nation)
7 bowl invites

Correct me if I'm wrong, but none of the other conferences beat that, including the SEC or Pac-10.

[capitan_refugio]

When you have twelve team in your conference, you're bound to get a few bowl selections.

Let me repeat. These days there are just four premier bowls. They pay about $15 million per team. Then you have a couple of others, Capitol One and Cotton that pay out $3-$5 million per team. Outside of the four BCS bowls, they are the cream of the crop. Then there are five other bowls, in the second tier, that guarantee $2 million per team. Every other bowl game is basically a "niche bowl."

Sometimes a first-rate team gets stuck in a second-rate bowl game. I've seen it before. They expect better and let down with what they got. Then you get teams that are just thankful to be anywhere in late December or early January - and they sometimes play over their heads.

I'd say Cal was unhappy about a Holiday Bowl selection. They certainly earned a Rose Bowl invitation. But the cartel did not agree.

Big-12 "major" bowl (Capitol One, Cotton, Fiesta, Orange, Rose, Sugar) winning percentage = .333
Big-12 "minor" bowl winning percentage = .750 (which includes wins over a WAC team and a Mid-American team)
Big-12 overall bowl winning percentage = .571

PAC-10 "major" bowl winning percentage = 1.000
PAC-10 "minor" bowl winning percentage = .500
PAC-10 overall bowl winning percentage = .600