Thanks for starting this thread, Snipes! I've been following NCAA football (serious observer) for about 15 years now. I rarely watch NFL since I got into the college game and find the NFL quite boring to be honest. I got into it by playing EA Sports NCAA football game in about 2003 or 2004. I created a player and blindly selected a team by closing my eyes and scrolling through the teams. I landed on the Oregon Ducks and started following them in real life since then, so I can say I'm not a bandwagon jumper when they were a top ranked team under Chip Kelly a few years back. I've also been a big fan of the Florida Gators too, I like the style of game the Pac-12 and SEC play. So if anyone is in Med Hat and sees some dude wearing an Oregon Ducks hoody or a ratty old Florida Gators hat it's me lol.
Fixed to Ruin...that is the one downside to NCAA, is you get Division II teams scheduled to play Division I teams and it's usually over sometime shortly after the coin toss. I'd hate to be the coaching staff or players on a Division II team playing a top 25 Division I team because you know you are being fed to the wolves. Sometimes you get a huge upset like when Appalachian State (Division II) beat the Michigan Wolverines in Michigan a few years back. The two divisions I mentioned above are pretty good, as is the Big 10 conference (Ohio State Buckeyes, Michigan, Michigan State Spartans, Nebraska Corrnhuskers, etc). I also follow the Notre Dame Fighting Irish but not as close as the other two I mentioned. If you are looking for a school to folllow, Alabama Crimson Tide have been the best team for probably the past three seasons. The LSU Tigers are right up there too. They're both pretty strong and play in the SEC (South Eastern Conference). The Clemson Tigers and Florida State Seminoles play in the ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference) and have been pretty good as of late too. Basically, unless your team is playing, watch teams in the top 25 play each other if you're looking to kill a Saturday afternoon or evening, especially if they're both ranked in the top 10.
I'm still confused by the ranking system, but basically if you are top 10 and lose to anyone above you, you might slide 2-3 spots. If you lose to a school that is below you 10 spots or unranked, you will drop 10 spots or so in the rankings, at least from what I observe anyways. If you're a top 5 ranked team, you're better off losing a game near the start of the season so you can recover for a chance at the playoff round for the national title. If you lose near the end of the season, with 1-3 games left, you're done and you'll be playing in one of the many many bowl games around Christmas through New Years.
I feel like I've rambled on, hopefully this helps a bit. If you like CFL football, I think you'll like NCAA-lots of passing and tomfoolery with trick plays lol.