Gonzaga and Florida could square off in 2026 Player's Era Championship

As if the $1M in guaranteed NIL money isn't enough, the Gonzaga Bulldogs have even more incentive to return to the Player's Era Championship in 2026: a potential matchup against Todd Golden and the Florida Gators.

Florida entered a multi-year agreement to participate in the Player's Era Championship on Tuesday, helping the event with its goal of expanding from 18 teams in 2025 to a whopping 32 teams in 2026 and beyond.

"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 in a press release by the school. "With the field assembled, Players Era will be a central piece of our non-conference schedule for the next several years."

It is widely expected that most, if not all, of the 18 teams in the 2025 event will return again in 2026, although Gonzaga has not confirmed anything officially. The 18 teams in the 2025 event include Gonzaga, Rutgers, Tennessee, Creighton, Baylor, Kansas, Notre Dame, St. John's, Iowa State, Houston, Syracuse, Auburn, Oregon, Alabama, Michigan, San Diego State, UNLV, and Maryland.

The Player's Era Championship took the college basketball world by storm last year, with a promise to pay each participating team $1M in NIL funds - plus an additional $1M to the winning team - a radical new idea based on recent changes to the NCAA rules which allows student-athletes to be paid for their name, image, and likeness.

Mar 20, 2025; Wichita, KS, USA; Gonzaga Bulldogs head coach Mark Few in the first half of a first round men’s NCAA Tournament game against the Georgia Bulldogs at Intrust Bank Arena. | Nick Tre. Smith-Imagn Images

The recent House settlement further changed the game, now allowing schools to directly pay players with a cap on spending at roughly $20.5M. Player's Era has already worked with the NCAA to ensure payments will be allowed as part of the school's $20.5M allotment.

In the case of schools that are already at the limit, payments can be ushered through the new clearinghouse for third-party NIL deals called NIL GO.

This event has understandably captured the attention of college basketball's biggest brands, and the 2026 version of this event could realistically function as a mini NCAA Tournament with 32 high-level brands all squaring off in "November Madness".

Gonzaga will make its inaugural appearance at Player's Era this November, taking on Alabama on Monday, Nov. 24 at 6:30 PM PT, followed by Maryland on Tuesday, Nov. 25 at 6:30 PM PT. The third game will be determined based on how the Zags perform in their first two games.

A matchup against Florida and head coach Todd Golden - who played at Saint Mary's and coached at San Francisco in the WCC - would be a big storyline for Gonzaga, as it would be a rematch of the 1999 Sweet Sixteen matchup that catapulted the program to national relevance after Gus Johnson's infamous 'the slipper still fits' call.

The two programs have met three times since then, with Florida winning 85-71 in 2000, Gonzaga winning 77-72 during the 2016-17 season, and then Florida winning in overtime in 2017 as part of the PK80 event in Portland.

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