At the beginning of the bowl era you could use that.. By the the 1970’s they were no longer exhibition games when you consider national titles were determined who won the New Years day bowl games and then voted upon after them..They were never relevant. Before the playoffs, three bowls-at the most-had an impact on the MNC. The rest were exhibitions, as intended.
Say they were exhibition games is something they used when they started the Rose, Sugar, Orange and Cotton bowls..