The Players Era 2026 brackets announced, headlined by Kansas, Florida and Houston

The Players Era announced the brackets for its new two-week, two-bracket format for November.

Players Era 8

Houston, Florida and Kansas headline the Players Era 8, which will tip off Tuesday, Nov. 17. The Gators will likely be preseason No. 1, and the bracket is set up for Kansas to face the winner of Houston-Florida if the favorites prevail. The three-day tournament will be played at Michelob ULTRA Arena, and the games will be broadcast on ESPN. Each team will play three games.

Players Era 16

The Players Era 16 will feature two eight-team brackets, with each winner playing for a championship on Saturday, Nov. 28. The other 14 teams will play three games each. That tournament begins Nov. 24. One side of the bracket includes likely preseason Top 25 teams Tennessee, Iowa State, St. John’s and Louisville. (Texas Tech could also get there, depending on who the Red Raiders can attract to play inside next season.) Likely preseason Top 25 teams on the bottom side are Gonzaga, Michigan (last year’s Players Era winner and national champ) and Miami.

The second round will be played on Thanksgiving Day. The semifinals will be the next day, Nov. 27, and the championship will be played Saturday, Nov. 28, at Michelob ULTRA Arena. Some of the games will be played at T-Mobile Arena.

Game times are yet to be set. All games will air on ESPN networks, as the Players Era recently announced a multiyear deal with the network. The first two years of the Players Era were played on Turner networks. Last year’s event, which included an 18-team field, created some controversy when the teams were seeded for the final day based on record and score differential.

Players Era CEO Seth Berger recently told The Athletic that the reason for the two-week setup this year was scheduling purposes. The setup last year was to reward the winner with $1 million. The monetary awards for this year’s teams have yet to be announced.