I’m going to start by saying something that’s not always popular: The bowl game your team is playing in probably doesn’t matter, aside from the New Year’s Six.
Bowl games are tacked on almost a month after college football’s regular season ends, with the intent of making money for athletic conferences, schools, and bowl organizational committees by creating the closet thing to a playoff game for a sport who’s playoff only includes four teams.
Think of bowls like a college house party: You can crash or you can be invited (though being invited is always better), and there’s a clear hierarchy!