Overview
- CBS Sports published the full 24-team brackets on Thursday showing two back-to-back tournaments in November staged at MGM Grand Garden Arena and Michelob Ultra Arena.
- The first event, Players Era 8, is scheduled for Nov. 17–19 and features first-round games such as Houston vs. Rutgers and Florida vs. Notre Dame at Michelob Ultra Arena.
- The second event, Players Era 16, runs Nov. 24–28 as two eight-team brackets that meet in a Nov. 28 championship game that carries an extra $1 million in NIL opportunities for the champion.
- Organizers moved from 2025’s criticized pool-play format to traditional bracket play to simplify competitive fairness, and ESPN is the announced broadcast partner with TV windows to be released later.
- The combined events will total 37 games, include a high-profile field with 13 teams that made last season’s NCAA Tournament, and are designed to concentrate large NIL payouts and national matchups in a single Las Vegas slate.