Shivas,
You CAN lose to Slippery Rock early and still win the MNC. USC is proving that. You can lose and still win it. Why is that WHEN you matters so much? USC lost early and thus has climbed back up, but if you lose late, you plummet in the polls even though each team lost once AND the team that lost early probably lost to a MUCH WORSE team, negating your chance (only in the polls, not the computers) for the MNC.
How about if you don't lose and don't even get a chance (see Tulane previously, TCU this year)?
The regular season DOES count in playoffs A LOT, because if you lose enough games, you're not in the playoffs (but still get a bowl game).
I see no difference between football and basketball in terms of playoff importance, and the NCAA basketball tournament is wildly popular, and every winner is considered unanimous champion, even if they had 11 losses in the regular season.
The reason that college football has such devotion include: 1. your numerous (usually at least 4) years of toil and fun there, cementing your devotion to your school for life
2. there are only 11-12 regular season games, and usually 5-7 home games, making tailgating, etc. very infrequent but special times.
3. Tailgating is partying with 50,000-100,000+ people who share the same love as yourself.
4. rivalries. If there wasn't rivalries, where would it be?