I love watching the bowl games. It's not meaningless to the players or the program. Alabama will be in a bowl so they will get extra time to practice and develop their players. It's not meaningless to the players who play in it. For some of them it will be the last time they get to wear their college jersey in a game and for some it will be the last game they play. I remember the days when Alabama barely made a bowl and was stoked that they did. I also remember them not making it and how bad it sucked to not have a game to look forward to. Bowl games are one of the things that make college football unique.
I don't like this playoff format but I hope Alabama makes the playoffs and under this format I think they should if SMU beats Clemson. Regardless I love getting to go bowling.