The Players Era Festival might be getting a new format next season after all.
Just a day after he said otherwise, Players Era Festival CEO Seth Berger told ESPN’s Myron Medcalf on Wednesday that they will consider altering the format to the Las Vegas tournament next season when it expands to 32 teams.
Advertisement
This year’s tournament, which easily has the best field among any of the Feast Week tournaments throughout the country, has drawn significant backlash online over its setup. After two days of group play with predetermined matchups, games for Wednesday’s final round weren’t determined until after midnight ET. Wednesday’s games — which included the championship and third-place games — were decided by a predetermined format based on margin of victory, record, AP ranking, head-to-head record, points allowed and points scored.
That has led to plenty of confusion from fans, both at the tournament in Las Vegas and at home.
On Tuesday, Berger was adamant that the tournament would keep the same setup next season when it grows from 18 teams to 32 teams. While he’s not clear what next season will look like, including if they will use a traditional bracket, Berger seemed open to changes.
“The reality of this is having the humility to listen,” Berger told ESPN on Wednesday. “That’s all it is. We thought we had come up with the right solution.
“… I don’t know that we’re going to a bracket, but all ideas are on the table.”
No. 7 Michigan and No. 12 Gonzaga ended up making the championship game at the Players Era Festival. The winner of the tournament will earn $1 million in additional NIL compensation. The runner-up will get $500,000. No. 17 Tennessee and Kansas will face off in the third-place game.
Advertisement
Tennessee missed out on the title game despite beating Rutgers by 25 points in its first game and knocking off No. 3 Houston in a thrilling matchup Tuesday. No. 15 Iowa State didn’t qualify either, despite beating No. 14 St. John’s and then beating Creighton by 18 points on Tuesday without star Tamin Lipsey. Iowa State instead got Syracuse, which lost each of its first two games at the tournament, in the fifth-place game. The Cyclones rolled to a 31-point win over the Orange to improve to 7-0 on the season on Wednesday.
Iowa State, despite going undefeated in the tournament and having perhaps the best collection of wins of anyone in the field, did not have a chance to earn additional NIL compensation.
As of now, next year’s event will feature four eight-team pods. The best four teams that make it out of those groups will face off for the title. It’s unclear how the tournament might change format-wise next season.
While the event is taking over the early-season tournament slate, it has undoubtedly been confusing for fans — especially without a bracket to work with. If organizers don’t clear that up next fall, when the field nearly doubles in size, those questions and complaints are sure to only grow louder.
