There's nothing to be learned from Bowl Games, outside of the really major ones.
There were years when the Big East did really well against other conferences in the post season and it gained the conference little, if any, additional respect.
There's way too many intangibles during Bowl Games. Often times, you have coaches who have departed pre-game, some who will be soon post-game, emotional players, some who don't show up, some playing in their hometowns living up the spotlight the night prior; you know, those sorts of things. To some teams, the Bowl is the world, to others, totally meaningless.
Also the reason why I don't hold the D's performance against Tom Allen.