things were before the 1940s when the NCAA first started approving the applications for bowl games. Not how things evolved after the SCOTUS ruling in the early 1980s. In 1890, Pasadena, CA held its first Tournament of Roses Parade to showcase the city's mild weather compared to the harsh winters in northern cities. In 1902, the festival added the Rose Bowl game (originally known as the "Tournament East–West football game"). The early Rose Bowl games always matched a team (not necessarily conference champion) from the Pacific Coast Conference (predecessor to the Pac-12) against a team from the East. It wasn't until 1947 that the Rose Bowl got its Big Nine (now Big Ten) vs. PCC (now Pac-12 match-up) due to a number of factors (i.e. treatment of amateur athletes and views on desegregation). If you look at the history of the Orange Bowl, then you will see it is very similar to that of the Rose Bowl in terms of a desire to attract people from northern cities to visit Miami in December/January. Remember the Orange Bowl was created in 1930s during the Great Depression, so I suspect there were altruistic aspects to their sales pitch in order to get the NCAA, which is made of representatives from the various schools, to approve their application to hold a bowl game. I suspect if you look at the history of all the bowl games that existed back then, then you will discover some common characteristics. Remember the NCAA controlled the broadcasting rights back then which helped limit the number of bowl games that were approved each year. If the NCAA did increase the number of bowl games, then it was more controlled than how it became after the SCOTUS ruling because more networks wanted to broadcast a bowl game in the '80s and '90s.