Rutgers Basketball to face Houston in Players Era Eight Bracket
Rutgers Basketball will open the Players Era Eight Tournament against Houston on November 17th, 2026, per a report from CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein.
Now in its third year, the Players Era Festival tournament has expanded to 24 teams for the 2026 edition. The Scarlet Knights are among eight programs competing in the Players Era Eight, with the remaining 16 teams set to tip off in the Players Era 16 tournament the following week.
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This game will mark the second time that Rutgers will face off against a Big 12 opponent since Steve Pikiell took over ahead of the 2016 season. Ironically that only other game was also Houston in the second round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament, where the Scarlet Knights held a 30-27 lead at halftime only to lose 63-60 in the end.
Along with Houston, the Players Era Eight bracket will also feature matchups between Florida versus Notre Dame, West Virginia versus Auburn, and Kansas versus UNLV.
According to a source, the winner of Houston versus Rutgers matchup, will play the winner of Florida versus Notre Dame. The same will take place between the losers of each game.
A few of Rutgers Basketball’s other non-conference matchups have already begun to leak out, as the Scarlet Knights will also face off against Army, Bryant, Seton Hall, and Syracuse. You can see the full list of confirmed non-conference and Big Ten games for the 2026-27 season right here.
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