Players Era expands to 24, moves Rutgers into eight-team bracket
Rutgers Basketball will once again participate in the Players Era Men’s Championships in Las Vegas this upcoming season, but it won’t be during Feast Week.
The tournament’s field increased to 24 teams and two separate brackets, ESPN’s Jeff Borzello reported on Thursday morning. The Players Era — along with EverWonder Studio, the company behind the tournament — also agreed to a multiyear deal with ESPN to become the tournament’s exclusive broadcast partner.
With the expansion, the Scarlet Knights will play in an eight-team bracket starting the week of November 16th. The remaining teams — named the “Players Era 16” — will play Thanksgiving Week, which had been the previous date for the entire tournament since its inception in 2024.
The Players Era’s field
Rutgers will play in the opening week, along with seven other teams, before Thanksgiving. The first bracket features a wide range of teams, including top contenders in Florida, Houston, and Kansas, while Auburn, West Virginia, Notre Dame, UNLV, and the Scarlet Knights make up the rest of the “Players Era 8.”
The 16-team field during Feast Week features defending national champion Michigan, with Alabama, Gonzaga, St. John’s, Louisville, Tennessee, Iowa State, Miami (FL), Texas Tech, Baylor, Maryland, TCU, Oregon, Creighton, San Diego State, and Kansas State also in the fold.
The bracket format is a new change to the tournament, as it was a round-robin style format in the previous two seasons.
Though the respective brackets have not yet been released, there is a chance Rutgers faces off against the Fighting Irish for the third straight year in the tournament. The Scarlet Knights won an overtime thriller in the inaugural Players Era in 2024, and lost 68-63 in a near-comeback last season.
Rutgers’ Players Era history
Rutgers sports a 2-4 record overall in the Thanksgiving tournament, going 1-2 in each of the last two seasons. In 2024, they defeated Notre Dame, then fell to the ninth-ranked Crimson Tide in another instant classic, and lost to No. 20 Texas A&M to close out its first appearance.
In 2025, the Scarlet Knights got blitzed by the 17th-ranked Volunteers, fell to the Fighting Irish a day later, then rebounded to defeat the Runnin’ Rebels 80-65 on Thanksgiving Day.
The tournament will once again offer NIL opportunities throughout for the third straight year.
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