re: Players sitting out for bowl games will force playoff expansion to 8, 12 or even 16 teams.

Bowl games, outside of the top tier, are typically undersold - its almost tradition. Corporate sponsors will till eat a lot of tickets to the better bowls. As long as they are played during the holidays when there isn't much else on people will stil ge them on tv even though most aren't even paying attention. They will expand for more money at some point. But it won't be because some student athletes sitting out the bowl game has hurt there bottom line in meaningful capacity.