Auburn basketball to face Michigan, Oregon at Players Era Festival in Las Vegas
More of Auburn basketball's 2025-26 schedule has leaked, and it only proves that the Tigers will, once again, play one of the nation's toughest schedules.
Matt Norlander of CBS Sports reports that Auburn will face a pair of Big Ten programs during its stay in Las Vegas at the Players Era Festival, which will be played Nov. 24-26. The Tigers will open the festival on Monday, Nov. 24, against the Oregon Ducks at 7 p.m. CT. The Ducks finished 25-10 last season and fell to former PAC-12 rival Arizona in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, 87-83. Oregon finished No. 27 in the KenPom last season, with its strongest quality being defense with a 95.8 efficiency rating, which ranked No. 21 in the country.
The Tigers will then face the Michigan Wolverines in an NCAA Tournament rematch on Tuesday, Nov. 25, in a semi-final matchup at 7:30 p.m. CT. The Wolverines made a deep NCAA Tournament run last season before falling to Auburn in the Sweet 16, 78-65. A trio of Tigers scored 20-plus points in the game, including Tahaad Pettiford, who dropped 20 points by shooting 50% in the game. Johni Broome led the Tigers in points with 22, and in rebounds with 16. The Player's Era Festival third place game, as well as the championship game, will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 26.
Not only will Auburn get to face some of the nation's best competition this season in Las Vegas, but it will also benefit the program in NIL earnings. Each program in the tournament will earn $1 million just for participating, with the pot of NIL earnings expected to be $20 million, according to Norlander.
Venues for each game will be announced at a later date. However, the event will be broadcast on the Turner family of networks, including TNT and TBS, and will be streamed on HBO MAX.
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