>

That's a thing????
Why stop at college sports? Why do people like pro sports? Why do people like Olympic sports? They aren’t out there skiing their ass off for a medal. I think the reason is because we feel like those people represent us and are doing it for us (even if they couldn’t care less). I could never play in the NFL but I could live vicariously through my home town team. >

there are a lot of people who grow up in small college towns that don't have their own professional sports teams. they live hours away from major cities, but they have their very own, highly competitive teams right in their back yard.
it's also a sense of regional pride. those colleges and universities and big employers for these towns. they provide revenue for the towns and residents. they are part of that town's history and soul.
rooting for a local college team is regional pride for people who live in small towns far away from the larger professional teams. >

I grew up and live in a town of 13000 with a D1 basketball team right here, yeah I think it's cool when they do well but I dont care about it either way. Them doing well is like seeing a pretty rainbow while driving, kinda cool but I don't think about it or care after 5 minutes. >

alright well it still explains why other people in your town of 13,000 watch and follow college sports. do you have an NBA team? no? very few cities do. but you DO have a D1 basketball team. so why wouldn't people follow their "hometown" team instead of following a team that is thousands of miles away? >

You think adult college sports fans are hard to understand... let me introduce you to adult high school sports fans. Unbelievable!