Report: Gonzaga to face Alabama, Maryland in opening games at Players Era Festival

Gonzaga can expect to have its hands full with its first two opponents at the Players Era Festival in November.

The Zags will face Alabama, another projected Top 25 team, in the opening game of the Las Vegas-based tournament on Nov. 24 before facing Maryland, which is coming off a run to the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16, the following day.

Both games will tip off at 6:30 p.m., according to CBS Sports, but the venue is still to be determined. Tournament games are being held at two Vegas sites, the MGM Grand Garden Arena and Michelob Ultra Arena.

The full Players Era Festival schedule was supposed to be released later but was inadvertently leaked by the University of Michigan’s athletic department on Tuesday morning, revealing all 18 opening-round matchups.

Wednesday’s consolation/third-place game will take place at 4 p.m., followed by a championship game at 6:30 p.m. All other matchups on Wednesday will be determined by results on Monday and Tuesday.

As part of the lucrative Thanksgiving-week college basketball tournament, all participating teams will receive $1 million in NIL funs and the champion will receive an additional $1 million.

Gonzaga’s opener against Alabama will be one of three on the opening day featuring multiple preseason top-20 teams. The Zags should enter the 2025-26 season as a consensus preseason Top 25 team and have appeared as high as No. 18 in some way-too-early polls – many of which don’t reflect the recent addition of Spanish guard Mario Saint-Supery.

Alabama lost four of its five starters from a team that advanced to the Elite Eight for a second straight year under coach Nate Oats.

The Crimson Tide got surprising news from guard Labaron Philon, who unexpectedly pulled his name from NBA draft consideration to return to college. Alabama adds Florida State transfer Taylor Bol Bowen, Miami transfer Jalil Bethea and Bucknell’s Noah Williamson, who had 16 points in a nonconference loss to the Zags last season.

Gonzaga and Alabama have only played twice – both games coming as part of a neutral-neutral series between the teams in 2021 and 2022. The Tide beat the Zags 92-81 in the first matchup, held at Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena, but Gonzaga got the best of Alabama the following season in Birmingham, Alabama, winning 100-90 as Drew Timme and Brandon Miller combined to score 65 points.

Maryland’s roster should look entirely different after the Terrapins made a run to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament with former coach Kevin Willard, whose “Crab Five” starting lineup featured NBA lottery pick Derik Queen and guard Rodney Rice, a former Gonzaga transfer portal target who landed at USC.

First-year coach Buzz Williams brings in 10 transfers, including four players from his Texas A&M roster last season. The group of transfers also features two former Washington State players – Isaiah Watts, a starter for the Cougars last season, and Myles Rice, who spent two seasons in Pullman before playing at Indiana in 2024-25.

Maryland replaced Texas A&M in the Players Era Festival after Williams left College Station, Texas, to accept a job in the Big Ten in early April.

It will be the fifth meeting between Gonzaga and Maryland and the first since 2009, when the Zags beat the Terps 81-59 at the Old Spice Classic in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Gonzaga holds a 3-1 advantage in the series, winning the past three games.

Other matchups on Monday at the Players Era Festival include Tennessee-Rutgers (10 a.m.); Baylor-Creighton (11 a.m.); Kansas-Notre Dame (12:30 p.m.); St. John’s-Iowa State (1:30 p.m.); Houston-Syracuse (3 p.m.); Oregon-Auburn (5 p.m.); Michigan-San Diego State (7:30 p.m.); and Maryland-UNLV.

The Tuesday matchups include Rutgers-Notre Dame (10 a.m.); Iowa State-Creighton (11:30 a.m.); Kansas-Syracuse (12:30 p.m.); St. John’s-Baylor (2 p.m.); Houston-Tennessee (3 p.m.); Michigan-Auburn (5:30 p.m.); Oregon-San Diego State (8 p.m.); and Alabama-UNLV (9 p.m.).

The addition of Alabama, ranked No. 17 in ESPN’s way-too-early poll, means Gonzaga will face at least four preseason Top 25 teams during the nonconference schedule.

The schedule also features games against No. 9 Kentucky, No. 15 UCLA and No. 22 Creighton.