For the third year in a row, Nate Oats will take Alabama basketball to Las Vegas for the Players Era Festival. And for the third straight year, the event will look quite different.
Alabama participated in the inaugural Players Era Festival in Las Vegas in 2024, which included just eight teams and a $1 million cash prize for the winning program. Alabama made it to the championship game after knocking off Houston and Rutgers, but fell to Oregon.
In 2025, the event expanded to 18 teams with a strange non-bracket format that was based on margin of victory. Alabama lost its opener to Gonzaga before bouncing back with wins over UNLV and Maryland.
Now, in 2026, Players Era is partnering with ESPN and expanding to 24 teams, per ESPN's Jeff Borzello. The 24 teams will be split into two tournaments, with an eight-team field being featured the week before Thanksgiving and a 16-team field the week of. Alabama will be featured in the latter.
Alabama is part of a loaded 16-team field for the 2026 Players Era Festival
This year's tournament will be much easier to follow and understand. It'll be bracket-play, which the sport was built on, instead of confusing tie-breakers.
Alabama will play in the 16-team tournament with the following programs:
Michigan
Gonzaga
St. John's
Louisville
Tennessee
Iowa State
Tennessee
Miami (FL)
Texas Tech
Baylor
Maryland
TCU
Oregon
Creighton
San Diego State
Kansas State
Of the 16 teams, 11 made the NCAA Tournament a year ago. It includes defending national champion Michigan as the headliner.
The Wolverines knocked Alabama out of the NCAA Tournament in the Sweet 16. The Crimson Tide faced off against Gonzaga, St. John's, and Tennessee during the regular season last year.
Oats has traditionally put together the most difficult non-conference schedules in college basketball every year for Alabama. This is the first domino to fall for the Tide's non-conference schedule for the 2026-27 season, and it's a doozy.
How the format will play out for teams that lose isn't known, but Alabama should be guaranteed at least three, if not four, quality games for its non-conference schedule. That of course won't stop Oats from scheduling a murderer's row of opponents outside of the Las Vegas-based tournament, though.
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