if it's all about who gets to the playoffs and who wins in the playoffs, then almost no team plays more than maybe 1 game that counts any time in the season.

the non-playoff bowls mean the same thing they've always meant; pride in winning a football game. the expansion of bowl games gives more bowls involving mediocre teams or even teams with losing records. those games are boring and most people don't watch unless they're fans of the teams involved. but good games like Alamo Bowl, Holiday Bowl, Vegas Bowl, etc are always great fun to watch.

I do think the trend of good players opting out of games is a negative to the non-playoff games. But that's a player issue, not an issue inherent to the bowls themselves.