for me honestly, thats all it is. I don't follow the NBA. I don't have an emotional tie to any team. I follow players, but typically only through a newspaper boxscore.
I love college basketball. I love everything about it. Now this game doesn't capture it all, and it doesn't include it all, but it does enough and is fun/enjoyable enough, for me to spend my winter taking my beloved Louisville Cardinals through season after season.
I really don't have any other answer than that.