Gators to Play in 2026 Players Era Men's Championship

The Players Era Championship takes place during the week of Thanksgiving.

Florida Gators head coach Todd Golden chomps after leading the Florida Gators to its third championship in program history. | Kyle Lander / Gators Illustrated

The Florida Gators will be participating in the Players Era Men’s Championship after entering a multi-year agreement, Players Era and the school announced on Tuesday. The Gators will begin participating in the 2026 Players Era Tournament. 

“The Players Era Men’s Championship has already become one of the elite multi-team events in a short time, and we’re excited to be part of that growth and innovation,” said Florida head coach Todd Golden. “With the field assembled, Players Era will be a central piece of our nonconference schedule for the next several years.”

signing on ✍️

ℹ️ https://t.co/eMkw8mclPm pic.twitter.com/wPgDxRgtJ7

— Florida Gators Men’s Basketball (@GatorsMBK) August 19, 2025

While the Gators will not be competing in this year’s Players Era tournament, most of the 2025 participants will be involved in it next year. This list of schools includes Rutgers, Tennessee, Creighton, Baylor, Kansas, Notre Dame, St. John’s, Iowa State, Houston, Syracuse, Auburn, Oregon, Gonzaga, Alabama, Michigan, San Diego State, UNLV and St. Joseph's. 

This event will take place in November the week of Thanksgiving. The games will be held at several locations in Las Vegas and will be aired by TNT Sports on TNT, TruTV and HBO Max. 

There was a ton of excitement from Players Era CEO Seth Berger to add the Gators into the mix, highlighting the fact that they are the defending national champions. 

“The University of Florida is the current standard bearer of excellence in NCAA men’s basketball, and there is no higher peak than being able to add the defending national champions to the Players Era Men’s Championship field,” said Berger.

Berger also added that Golden is one of the best coaches in the game right now and thanked him for the support of the Players Era Tournament. 

“Coach Golden has quickly established himself as one of the best coaches in the game, and we thank him for his support of our event and can’t wait to see them match up with other premier programs in 2026.”

When the Gators are involved in the tournament, there will likely be some roster turnover. Thomas Haugh, Alex Condon, Xaivian Lee and Boogie Fland all have NBA aspirations and if all goes to plan this year, some of these names could be moving onto the next level. 

Three of them are already on NBA draft scouts' radars. Haugh, Fland and Condon were all included on way-too-early 2026 NBA draft big boards. 

Coincidentally, the Gators kick their title defense off in Las Vegas. They will be taking on the Arizona Wildcats on Nov. 3 in the Hall of Fame Series.