Which NCAA Schools Play Scenarioball?

Xavier and Georgetown faced off on Saturday in a key Big East matchup. I will soon find out if either team plays Scenarioball. Photo courtesy Geoff Burke/USA Today Sports

Hello, all! I hope you had a great weekend. Time to check in on the best interactive basketball game this side of NBA 2K: Scenarioball! Today's post puts us back on campus.

Not long ago I compared NBA teams against my Scenarioball stats - that is, statistical categories that I value when I watch a game such as dunks and made three-pointers. I alluded to the fact I wanted to do the same for the NCAA, but with 351 schools, I knew that would be a challenge.

I contemplated how to deal with the sheer number of schools in Division I and resolved that while each school is unique, I don't truly care about all of them. I decided to narrow down the number of schools with some arena standards in the vain of Euroleague and UEFA. I prefer schools that play in pro-style arenas with mostly chairback seats on three or four sides of the court, with premium seating as an added bonus. I assume my love of pro basketball influences that.

Here are the arena standards I came up with:

• Must be the team's main venue, i.e. play about 3/4 of their home games there
• At least 5,000 seats
• Must have multiple premium seating options
• Must be located in a metro area of 100,000 or more

I figured I would have more demands in my standards, but they came out pretty simple. I ended up with 70 schools from across the DI basketball landscape:

Arkansas Razorbacks

Arkansas-Little Rock Trojans

Belmont Bruins

Binghamton Bearcats

Cincinnati Bearcats

Creighton Bluejays

Dayton Flyers

DePaul Blue Demons

Eastern Michigan Eagles

Evansville Aces

Florida State Seminoles

Fresno State Bulldogs

Georgetown Hoyas

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Green Bay Pheonix

Hofstra Pride

Houston Cougars

Illinois Fighting Illini

Lipscomb Bisons

Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns

Louisville Cardinals

Marquette Golden Eagles

Maryland Terrapins

Memphis Tigers

Miami Hurricanes

Michigan State Spartans

Minnesota Golden Gophers

Missouri Tigers

Missouri State Bears

NC State Wolfpack

Nebraska Cornhuskers

New Mexico Lobos

Northern Illinois Huskies

Northern Iowa Panthers

Northern Kentucky Norse

Ohio State Buckeyes

Old Dominion Monarchs

Omaha Mavericks

Penn State Nittany Lions

Pittsburgh Panthers

Providence Friars

Rhode Island Rams

Richmond Spiders

Saint Louis Billikens

Seattle Redhawks

Seton Hall Pirates

Siena Saints

SMU Mustangs

South Alabama Jaguars

South Carolina Gamecocks

South Florida Bulls

Syracuse Orange

Temple Owls

Tennessee Volunteers

Texas Longhorns

Texas-Arlington Mavericks

Texas Tech Red Raiders

Toledo Rockets

Towson Tigers

UCF Knights

UNLV Runnin' Rebels

USC Trojans

Utah Valley Wolverines

Vanderbilt Commodores

Virginia Cavaliers

Wake Forest Demon Deacons

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers

Wisconsin Badgers

Wright State Raiders

Xavier Musketeers

Phew! Did you get all of those? I'm going to run my numbers on these schools for this season and put them into a readable chart. I'm thinking of putting the top teams into a March Madness-style tournament, but I'll work that out later. At some point I'll also go back to past seasons to see which teams have consistently played the way I enjoy. I intend to put those teams into a 8- to 12-team conference that I'll cover beat-reporter style next season. As with any time I run numbers, I'm excited to see how things shake out.