I think what they're trying to show is that now, unlike in the past, the Bowl expense is not causing them to go outside of their budget.
That's a fine argument to make. But let's not call it "breaking even."
If we look at the larger issue that you bring up...the fact we lose money on nearly every game, the athletic department has to do a better job to change the discussion. If the vast majority of Div. 1 universities lose money on athletics, I think asking whether or not to continue doing so is a fair question. The answer to this question cannot be that "we're breaking even," when it is clear that we are not. In fact, the answer cannot be about money at all. The answer has to be about the VALUE athletics brings to the university and her mission.
Going back to the poster that called the question moot. It's not moot. As Wanny has pointed out several times, the budget isn't expanding any time soon. When you go to the table to ask for money, you cannot say that "losing money is just the nature of college athletics and everybody's doing it and we'll break even if we budget for it." You have to demonstrate the VALUE athletics will return to the univerisity on the dollars you are asking them to invest. I'm sure that they are already doing this, but the general population, especially outside of university circles, (like me - as Swank likes to point out, I'm from Ironton - not sure how it's relevent, but...) needs to keep hearing how and what VALUE athletics brings to the university mission.