Cotton bowl was a BCS game years ago but failed to fill the Cotton bowl when no Texas team was in it. If it were to become a BCS game again they would have to change the rule that Dallas Cowboys season ticket holds dont get first shot at all events. If not it becomes a big Texas home game each year if one of them is in it.
It's never been a BCS game. It was a Bowl Coalition event prior to the formation of the Bowl Alliance which ultimately gave way to the BCS, and it had a Texas team in it each year of the Coalition (TAMU x2, Tech x1). It was also a Bowl Alliance game, and during that time it only invited one Texas team in the 3 years of the Alliance (Tech). The final year of the Alliance, the Cotton Bowl had the 2nd highest attendance of the 6 years as part of the Coalition & Alliance, despite having no Texas teams in the game. After the BCS began the following year and the Cotton Bowl was no longer one of the "major" games, attendance was below 60,000 for only the 2nd time in the previous 20 years with Texas A&M representing the state in the game.
It was not included in the BCS because the initial 4 bowl sites chosen were more attractive from a tourism standpoint and for geographical dispersion. If Cowboy Stadium existed in 1998,
I have no doubt that the Cotton Bowl would have been chosen over the Fiesta for inclusion in the BCS.
