CBS Sports graphic
Either Tennessee or Kansas will go 3-0 in the Players Era Festival this week and finish no better than third place. If you want to know how goofy the format for this 18-team event is, that’s a good place to start.
It’s a “tournament” where a perfect record might get you no better than third place — or, in Iowa State’s case, fifth place. Because, yes, the Cyclones, just like Tennessee and Kansas, are also undefeated in the Players Era Festival but are reduced to what amounts to a fifth-place game against Syracuse because of point differential.
It’s all so silly.
We really destroyed the Maui Invitational for this?
As I posted on X Tuesday night, I don’t blame any of the 18 programs involved in this event for being involved in this event. Everybody is chasing money these days, and the Players Era Festival is paying real money to schools, reportedly around $1 million. Put simply, when the options are to either pay a lot of money to play three games away from home (which is what Maui requires) or get paid a lot of money to play three games away from home (which is what the Players Era does), it’s understandable to go with the latter. But the format is too ridiculous for any basketball fan to take seriously.
Players Era format needs to be tweaked in order for event to reach its full potential in 2026 and beyond
Matt Norlander
So, sure, I’m looking forward to the title game between Michigan and Gonzaga, in part because it’s a matchup between the teams ranked third (Michigan) and 10th (Gonzaga) in Wednesday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings. But the way we got here was poorly thought out, and that’s why it’s crucial that the event’s organizers listen to their customers and adjust.
Bottom line, no sport in the United States is more closely associated with a bracket than college basketball. Next November, the Players Era Festival would be wise to give us some.
