Report: Tennessee basketball to be part of 16-team bracket in Players Era Festival

The Players Era Tournament in Las Vegas is expanding to 24 teams, but Tennessee basketball will be part of a 16-team field with the event split into two different groups. 

ESPN reported Thursday morning that the group of eight will play the week of November 16 and the 16-team group will play the week of November 23.

Tennessee is in the midst of a three-year deal with the Players Era Festival, after the Vols made their first trip to the event last November, beating Rutgers and Houston before falling to Kansas to finish in fourth place.

In the group of 16 with Tennessee is Michigan, Alabama, Gonzaga, St. John’s, Louisville, Iowa State, Miami, Texas Tech, Baylor, Maryland, TCU, Oregon, Creighton, San Diego State and Kansas State.

The group of eight is Florida, Houston, Kansas, Auburn, West Virginia, Notre Dame, Rutgers and UNLV.

Both groups of teams will play in a bracket, which is a change from last season’s format, which included the first two games scheduled, then the third opponent determined by record and scoring margin.

ESPN is the new broadcast partner and will air all 37 Players Era games next season, after Turner Broadcasting had the event last year. 

What we know about Tennessee’s 2026-27 season

Tennessee next season is scheduled to host Michigan State in the start of a home-and-home series and go on the road to Purdue for the first game in another marquee home-and-home. The Vols are also scheduled to face North Carolina State in a neutral-site game at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

Tennessee should also have a home game in the ACC-SEC Challenge after playing at Syracuse last season.

A date has not yet been set for the Michigan State game, which Rick Barnes announced last week during a Big Orange Caravan stop in Nashville. The road game at Purdue is set for December 12. The Vols will host the Boilermakers in the return game on Dec. 11, 2027.

“We’ve still got some more discussion going on with teams,” Barnes said, “as we continue to try to put our schedule together, not just this year, but try to get some balance to it over the next couple years, and we’re excited about it.” 

Vols add home-and-homes with Michigan State, Purdue

Tennessee and Purdue have not played in a home-and-home since the early 1980s, but have met often in early season tournaments and NCAA Tournament play. Tennessee has a 2-5 record against Purdue in program history with a 1-3 mark against the Boilermakers under Barnes. All four games were decided by six points or fewer.

The N.C. State game will be a matchup with first-year Wolfpack head coach Justin Gainey, who spent the last five seasons as Tennessee’s associate head coach. He was hired away from the Vols in March, after the season ended in the Elite Eight for a third-straight year.

Tennessee lost to Illinois at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville last December.

The Vols are 2-5 all time against Michigan State. 

The last meeting was a 70-69 Michigan State win in the Elite Eight in St. Louis in the 2010 NCAA Tournament. The last home-and-home was swept by the Spartans in 1993 and 1994, winning in Knoxville first, then in East Lansing.