Bill,
I agree with you that bits-per-second is not a measure of bandwidth -- It is a measure of the rate of data transfer.
The link between the two is that when using any given encoding system, a higher data rate requires a wider bandwidth. But that's about as far as you can go without specifics. To accurately determine the required bandwidth for any given data rate you need details of the encoding system - and the relationship between the two can vary considerably.
To me, saying that bandwidth is measured in bps (or Mbps) is like telling someone that wattage is measured in amps. We all know that that's technically incorrect, even though there is a relationship between the two. But without knowledge of the system voltage, power factor, etc. it's impossible to calculate one from the other. Same with bandwidth and data rate.
