a) There were only so many of them, so any bowl was special.

b) New Year's Day bowl games were something really special, and something to look forward to.

c) And what's so wrong with the "national champion" being named by a poll. College football isn't like pro leagues. At least in pro leagues, there are only x number of teams, and the schedules can be relatively equal. That can't happen in college football. Way too many teams, and way too many unequal schedules. So out of 100+ teams, a committee decides which 4 of those teams are the "best", seeds them and lets them play. Under this system, all the sports talking heads only talk about the 4 teams that make the playoff, and before the 4 teams are selected, they only talk about the approximate 6 teams that actually have a chance to be chosen.