KU basketball learns first 2 opponents for Players Era tournament in Las Vegas
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- Kansas faces Notre Dame on Nov. 24 and Syracuse on Nov. 25 in Las Vegas tourney.
- Players Era Festival offers $1M to the champion, part of NIL prize pool.
- Third matchup hinges on results, with point differentials used as tiebreakers.
Kansas men’s basketball will play Notre Dame on Nov. 24 and Syracuse on Nov. 25 as part of the Players Era Festival tournament in Las Vegas, CBS Sports reported Tuesday.
The Jayhawks, according to the website, will play a third game on Nov. 26 with the opponent in the third contest based on the results of the 18 participating teams in the first two games.
The 2025 event will be marketed as “November Mania” with all games played at either MGM Grand Garden Arena or Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas.
CBS Sports reports the team that wins the event will win an additional $1 million along with all teams being assured $1 million for participating. The incentive of additional money has been deemed OK by the NCAA as a result of the House case settlement regarding the direct payments to be made to players starting this school year.
Games on Monday, Nov. 24: Tennessee vs. Rutgers, 12 p.m. Central; Baylor vs. Creighton, 1 p.m.; KU vs. Notre Dame, 2:30 p.m.; St. John’s vs. Iowa State, 3:30 p.m.; Houston vs. Syracuse, 5 p.m.; Oregon vs. Auburn, 7 p.m.; Alabama vs. Gonzaga, 8:30 p.m.; Michigan vs. San Diego State, 9:30 p.m.
Games on Tuesday, Nov. 25: Rutgers vs. Notre Dame, 12 p.m.; Iowa State vs. Creighton, 1:30 p.m.; KU vs. Syracuse, 2:30 p.m.; St. John’s vs. Baylor, 4 p.m.; Houston vs. Tennessee, 5 p.m.; Michigan vs. Auburn, 7:30 p.m.; Gonzaga vs. Maryland, 8:30 p.m.; Oregon vs. San Diego State, 10 p.m.; and Alabama vs. UNLV at 11 p.m.
The consolation/third-place game will be at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 26, with the title game at 8:30 p.m.
According to CBS Sports: “Teams that go 2-0 on Monday and Tuesday will pool into the championship round on Wednesday. With only two game results to determine who gets to play for the championship and the inevitability of more than two teams being 2-0 by the end of Tuesday, point differential, total points scored and points allowed will all affect the tally and serve as tiebreakers.”
This is the second year of the event, won by Oregon a year ago. The 2024 field consisted of Oregon, Alabama, Creighton, Houston, Notre Dame, Rutgers, San Diego State and Texas A&M. Seven of those eight return in 2025. Texas A&M has dropped out.
Notre Dame, led by third-year coach Micah Shrewsberry, will be playing KU for the first time since the 1987-88 season. The Irish lead the Jayhawks in the all-time series 9-3.
The Irish went 15-18 overall, 8-12 in the ACC last season. N.D. added one player in the transfer portal: former Northern Arizona forward Carson Towt. He was the country’s leading rebounder last season at 12.4 per game. Towt also contributed 13.4 points and 3.4 assists per contest.
Kebba Njie, a 6-10, 250-pound center, initially placed his name in the NBA Draft, but is returning to school after averaging 6.1 points and 5.9 boards per game. Point guard Markus Burton returns after averaging 21.3 points a game on 44.2% shooting. He hit 48 of 128 3-pointers for 37.5%. He led the team with 18 blocked shots in 31 games.
Syracuse, led by second-year coach Adrian Autry, went 14-19 last season, including a 7-13 mark in the ACC. The teams are tied in the all-time series, 3-3.
The Orange’s 2025 recruiting class is ranked top 10 nationally. The squad is bringing in freshmen Sadiq White Jr., Luke Fennell, Aaron Womack and Kiyan Anthony, the son of former Orange star Carmelo Anthony. The Orange return starters J.J. Starling and Donnie Freeman. Starling, a 6-4 senior and Freeman, a 6-9 sophomore, averaged 17.8 and 13.4 points per game last season, respectively.
Former KU guard Kyle Cuffe, who played two years at Syracuse after transferring from KU, is now at Mercer. He averaged 5.1 ppg last season.
Four women’s teams (Duke, South Carolina, UCLA and Texas) will participate in their own tourney on Nov. 26 and 27 at the two venues in Vegas.
According to CBS Sports, the pot for the men’s tourney “will be north of $20 million in NIL-related earnings, making it the most expensive regular-season event in the history of college basketball.”
Schools will be paid for transportation to the event and travel costs. Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne told CBS Sports that “Players Era has separate NIL agreements with the student-athletes for each of the participating schools to pay them for marketing, sponsorship and endorsement activities that will be done separately from the event and in a manner consistent with the new NIL Go procedures.”
The games will be broadcast on TNT, TBS and streaming on HBO Max.
This story was originally published July 1, 2025 at 8:04 PM with the headline "KU basketball learns first 2 opponents for Players Era tournament in Las Vegas."
