Back when Indiana was shitty, this probably would've been a chance for us to sneak into a bowl game, but I'm kinda seeing why teams are skipping bowls, and it's not because of the elite schools with that CFP or Bust mentality.
A lot of the lower tier bowl games have smaller payouts, and in some cases, end up costing the schools just for visiting. I recall a long time ago the old bowl game that used to be in Houston that was quite delinquent in payouts. If you're a Group of Five school, that could set your athletic department back big.