LAS VEGAS — Iowa State, the 2025 Players Era People’s Champ, is headed back to Las Vegas for the 2026 Players Era.

The Cyclone men’s basketball team went 3-0 at last year’s event, being one of three teams to go undefeated. Due to tiebreakers in last year’s format, Iowa State did not play in the first- or third-place games.

In a bracketed format on the winner’s side this season, Iowa State will open with San Diego State on Tuesday, Nov. 24. Tennessee will face Maryland in the other quarterfinal game on Iowa State’s side of the bracket. St. John’s will play Oregon, while Louisville will face Texas Tech on the bottom portion of the bracket. Only the winner’s side has a set bracket for advancement currently.

No games will be played on Wednesday, Nov. 25, while two semifinal and two consolation games will be played on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 26. A Bracket 1 championship game will be played on Friday, Nov. 27, along with three other placement games. The winner of the Bracket 1 championship game will move on to the Players Era 16 championship game, which will be held on Saturday, Nov. 28 at Michelob ULTRA Arena.

The matchups in Bracket 2 include Gonzaga and Kansas State, Baylor and Alabama, Michigan and Creighton and TCU and Miami. All teams will play three games, with the two bracket winners playing a fourth and final game on Saturday.

Iowa State is 4-2 all-time against San Diego State.

All 37 games across the two tournaments will be broadcast on the ESPN family of networks as part of a new multi-year broadcast agreement between Players Era and ESPN.