L.C. I think in those cases they redefine bowl eligibility.
Yep because it's pretty difficult to participate in something if you're not eligible.
You can be allowed a special waiver to do something you aren't actually eligible for. At this point, it's semantics. In any case, even if a team actually went to a bowl with a 5-7 record, I wouldn't consider that to be part of a "bowl eligible" streak, though I would consider it to be a part of a "bowl participation" streak. If you want to count differently, you are welcome to.