The 2025 Players Era Festival in Las Vegas will be the best holiday tournament in all of college basketball. Gonzaga will open up against Alabama on Monday, November 24th at 6:30 p.m. ET, and then Maryland on Tuesday, November 25th at 6:30 p.m. ET during Thanksgiving week. Their third and final matchup on Wednesday, November 26th, is to be determined. The games will be played at either the MGM Grand Garden Arena or the Michelob Ultra Arena.
Maryland essentially replaced Texas A&M with the Buzz Williams’ coaching change. Also, Saint Joe’s is no longer in the Players Era Festival and will instead play in a separate event called the Players Era Showcase at UNLV on the previous Thursday and Saturday. The Hawks will play UNLV and Syracuse.
The 18 teams in the field will each receive $1 million in Name, Image, and Likeness or NIL money, with the winner of the event to receive an additional $1 million. Teams that go 2-0 on Monday and Tuesday will pool into the championship round on Wednesday. Then, the final matchup with the prize money on the line will be determined by point differential, total points scored, and points allowed.
Here is how Gonzaga’s 2025-26 non-conference schedule is looking so far:
Kraziness in the Kennel (McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane) – October 4th
Oklahoma (Spokane Arena) – November 8th
Creighton (McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane) – November 11th
Alabama (Las Vegas) – November 24th
Maryland (Las Vegas) – November 25th
Players Era Festival – November 26th
Kentucky (Bridgestone Arena in Nashville) – December 5th
UCLA (Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle) – December 13th
Arizona State (Desert Financial Arena in Tempe) – TBD
Baylor – Both date and location TBD
There are possibly four to five games against Top 25 programs listed leading up to the start of the season. A few tune-up buy games against low to mid-major programs are left to be announced.
As for the last West Coast Conference schedule for the Zags, it opens up on Sunday, December 28th. Here are the matchups for the 18-game slate with the dates/times to be announced later:
Home: LMU, Pacific
Away: Oregon State, San Diego
Home and Away: Saint Mary’s, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Washington State, Seattle, Portland, Pepperdine
Arden Cravalho is a Gonzaga University graduate from the Bay Area… Follow him on Twitter @a_cravalho
