What eight teams are in the Players Era basketball tournament?
Rutgers basketball will be joined by seven other teams in the Players Era Festival, a new college basketball holiday tournament that will be driven by Name, Image and Likeness (NIL).
The Players Era Festival is a first-of-its-kind tournament where players will be paid to participate. Rather than being paid to play, the players on the rosters in the tournament will be paid for certain appearances related to the tournament.
The tournament is scheduled for Thanksgiving weekend in Las Vegas. Per a report from CBSSports, the tournament will feature Alabama, Creighton, Houston, Notre Dame, Oregon, Rutgers, San Diego State and Texas A&M.
According to the reporting from CBSSports:
“The tournament would be unique in that the NIL collective of each participating school would be paid $1 million. Additional significant NIL opportunities (believed to be in the neighborhood of another $1 million) would be awarded exclusively to the winner or winners of the event, depending on the final bracket format(s). The money would then be distributed to athletes by the collectives.”
The only hiccup for the tournament is how the field will be established. NCAA rules say that teams from the same conference can’t play each other in a tournament. This means that Rutgers and (new Big Ten member) Oregon can’t be in the same field. The same goes for SEC members Alabama and Texas A&M.
The Players Era Tournament field is set and there will be two separate pods of four teams.
Which three programs do you want to see in #Rutgers pod? pic.twitter.com/3YpeJ6PbvF
— Rutgers Scarlet Knights | TheKnightReport.Net (@RutgersRivals) May 11, 2024
Potentially, this means the festival is likely to run two separate fields or pods for the tournament.
