As I watch the 2008 Gator Bowl between Georgia and Michigan State, it occurs to me that the bowls are somewhat pointless for warm weather schools. One of the original motivations for the bowls was to encourage tourism to the city in question. Does Florida really need additional tourism in the winter? How about southern California? Do Georgia fans really consider driving to Jacksonville to be much of a break from the "harsh" winters in Athens?
A big reason the Rose Bowl is successful is that it includes the Big 10 and four cold weather Pac-10 schools (Washington, Washington State, Oregon, Oregon State). If the Pac-10 and Big-10 were all located in warm cities, the Rose Bowl would not exist.