Good points. Comparisons of attendance figures at bowl games over time don’t really make sense. For one thing, you had to be a conference champion just to get invited to some of these bowl games (SEC for Sugar Bowl, Big 10 and Pac 10’for Rose Bowl, etc.). Secondly, you have so many stupid bowl games these days that it seems like every Division I team with six wins gets invited to one.
It IS that way. All .500 teams go to a bowl game.