Inside KU basketball’s schedule at Players Era tournament — and how it all works
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- KU will face Notre Dame Monday and Syracuse Tuesday in the Players Era.
- The 18-team event has no bracket; records and tiebreakers set seeding for final round.
- Each participating school receives $1 million for its NIL fund plus travel expenses.
Kansas men’s basketball knows it will play Notre Dame on Monday and Syracuse on Tuesday in the second-annual Players Era tournament at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
The Jayhawks’ players and coaches, however, are uncertain of their final game opponent at the unique 18-team, NIL benefit event — one without a traditional bracket — that will conclude the tourney for the Jayhawks either Wednesday or Thursday.
What is known is KU’s first two games will each start at 2:30 p.m. Central at the south Las Vegas Strip arena and be aired on TNT.
Even if KU wins its first two contests, it is not assured a spot in Wednesday’s 8:30 p.m. Central final or 6 p.m. third place game. Those four slots could go to participating teams Alabama, Auburn, Baylor, Creighton, Gonzaga, Houston, Iowa State, Maryland, Michigan, Oregon, Rutgers, San Diego State, St. John’s, Tennessee, UNLV, Notre Dame or Syracuse.
If the Jayhawks stumble in one or both of the opening contests, there’s a chance KU would play a consolation game sometime Wednesday or even Thursday prior to heading back to Kansas.
“It’s fine, whatever the format is,” KU coach Bill Self said Friday at a news conference held three days in advance of its tourney opener. “We want to put ourselves in the best position. But the biggest thing is, to me, this is a three-game tournament, and we’re going to try to win three games. And if you don’t win one of the first two you’ve got to try to win two because the competition is going to be very difficult each and every game, regardless.”
To summarize the way it will work ... all 18 teams will play on Monday and Tuesday in preset matchups, which will determine the championship matchups on Wednesday.
Teams that finish 2-0 entering Wednesday will be the first to qualify for the Players Era title game and the third place game, with 1-1 teams to follow. Tiebreakers will be determined by point differential, points scored and points allowed — and AP ranking as of Monday.
All games on Wednesday and Thursday will be determined following Tuesday’s final game. Teams will be ranked 1-through-18.
Teams ranked 5 to 14 will play one game Wednesday. The bottom four teams (15 to 18) will remain in Vegas until Thursday and each play a game on Thanksgiving.
“I think it’s hard to crown a champion based on point differential, but it’s the way it’s set up. So, you know, we’ve got to certainly play to that, and everybody else will try to play to that as well. But the biggest thing is, let’s go out there and get better this week,” Self said. “Let’s play good on Monday and Tuesday and roll with it on Wednesday. See what happens.
“I mean, it’s kind of like going on a trip to New York, and you get to the airport and the airports are closed. Do you panic, or do you just roll with it? And you get into New York at 10 or 11 o’clock at night, as opposed to arriving at 4 o’clock in the afternoon, where you can actually play off of that. It screws up your schedule. But everybody adjusts. Life is full of adjustments. ... If you can’t adjust to that, then you probably don’t have a very tough team.”
The attraction of playing in the Players Era Tournament is that each school receives a minimum of $1 million from participating in guaranteed-sponsor NIL activities, with the champion team having the potential to earn an additional $1 million in NIL.
The total NIL money distributed across the tournament is expected to be over $20 million. The additional $1 million for the winner is also made available through NIL opportunities with sponsors.
In last year’s Players Era tourney, which included eight teams, each of the eight participating programs received $1 million for their affiliated NIL collective. Self confirmed the Jayhawks have already done some work in advance of the tourney and would have some NIL related duties upon arrival in Vegas on Saturday.
The Jayhawks have received an invitation to participate in the tourney again next year. The team has a certain amount of time after this year’s event to accept or decline. It’s likely the Jayhawks will accept the invitation unless other tourneys such as the Maui Invitational and Battle4Atlantis begin to copy the financial makeup of the Players Era tourney.
Maui and Battle4Atlantis reportedly provide a stipend to schools but do not pay for flights, hotels and food. The Players Era tourney not only provides $1 million in NIL, but also pays all those expenses.
Self said he thought it would “be a necessity to play in true NIL opportunities” in this new era in which players are paid in a revenue share agreement between schools and players approved by the NCAA.
“So who knows what the future holds, but it’s certainly the wave of the present, which I assume will extend into the future,” Self added of teams playing only in tourneys that produce NIL dollars.
Self has said in the past competing in events over the course of three days has helped team bonding.
“I really don’t think where you’re at has a lot to do with it. Maui is hard to beat if you’re going to hang out, but Vegas is a fun place, too,” Self said. “But what I’m talking about (Is) three games in three days where you spend all your time with each other, and if you’re not playing or practicing, you’re in the film room with each other. You’re talking about certain things and making adjustments, and it’s kind of just us.
“Even though families will be there, the opportunity to spend time with families isn’t going to be prevalent Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. It’ll be maybe a little bit before and maybe on Thursday. We’ll probably come back immediately after the game, whenever our last game is. But the bottom line is it’s just us, and I think those things are good.”
Of playing in the tourney in Vegas, senior Melvin Council Jr., a transfer from St. Bonaventure, said: “I just can’t wait to go out there with a new team, and first time in Vegas with new guys. And we all can’t wait to go.”
