Yep, I agree. Not that any of the bowls so far really matter, but when I tuned in a little the stands were nearly empty. It just looks bad, and if they're not selling tickets to fans what's the point.
And I think there are far too many bowls -- they've really watered down the enthusiasm with so many. Who wants to watch a bunch of 6-6 teams play each other?! They should cut 'em in half, at a minimum, and fill the New Years weekend with good games.
The heyday of the minor bowl games were the days when really solid teams would square off in an exciting bowl game in the weeks before the big New Year's Day bowls. Sometimes it was a rare opportunity for college football fans across the country to see military academies and minor conference champions on the field. Some of my favorite times as a football fan were those days in the 1980s and early 1990s watching the Liberty Bowl, Holiday Bowl, Peach Bowl, etc. on a weeknight when we could stay up late because school was on the Christmas break.
I think given the costs of the schools to send their players, cheerleaders etc. to the games, schools lose money on these bowl games.