Houston Cougars Included in New and Expanded Player's Era Tournament
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The Houston Cougars will head out to Las Vegas once again next season for the Players' Era Tournament. It's going to look different this time around.
This tournament is always important for Houston to attend and take part in due to the NIL opportunity present. All teams that participate in the Player's Era receive at least $1 million in NIL, and the winner has the potential to receive even more.
The winners of the last two tournaments have each gotten an additional $1 million. That is something Houston would like to cash in on this time around. The Cougars participated in the inaugural tournament in 2024 and struggled, with a 1-2 record. Houston lost to both Alabama and San Diego State in overtime, but beat Notre Dame.
It ended up likely helping Houston as the team significantly learned from the experiences in Vegas and reached the national championship for the first time since 1984. Last season, the Cougars went 2-1 with wins against Notre Dame and Syracuse and a loss against Tennessee.
The quality of opponents is strong in the Player's Era, and it has gotten even stronger in 2026 for Houston. This tournament has turned into a highlight for the non-conference portion of UH's schedule, and there definitely will be some special matchups to watch.
The Player's Era has expanded from 18 to 24 teams and will be split into two separate brackets, according to Jeff Borzello of ESPN. It will go on for a total of two weeks in November, with each bracket getting one week to play out.
Houston's New Player's Era Experience
Houston is part of the Players' Era Eight group that will play the week before Thanksgiving, starting on Nov. 16. That looks to be quite a competitive group, as the Cougars have been included with potential preseason No. 1 in Florida, the program Houston faced in the 2025 national championship. Besides the Gators, it also features Big 12 rivals Kansas and West Virginia.
Auburn, Notre Dame, Rutgers and UNLV wrap up the eight. This bracket format is very different from last year's format of two-set games for each team and a third game based on record and scoring margin.
13 out of the 24 teams reached the NCAA Tournament last season. The Big 12 has a total of eight teams in the Players' Era due to a business venture that Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark and the tournament agreed to.
Texas Tech, Baylor, TCU, Iowa State and Kansas State are included in the other Players' Era Sixteen bracket. The broadcast network for the tournament has also changed, as ESPN now owns the broadcast rights and will be the home for all 37 games. TNT was the broadcast partner for the first two iterations.
Schedules and venues will be announced later in the year. According to CBS Sports, the average payout for all teams will be slightly above $1 million, in a good news for Houston. Some teams have been paid more than others to participate.
Anything Houston can get to boost its NIL program will be welcomed by coach Kelvin Sampson and the team. Houston's athletic department still has one of the lowest budgets among Power Four schools, so much so that Sampson called UH Athletics "poor" earlier in the year.
Houston winning the tournament would be a significant boost in many ways to increase NIL funding and improve on the court.
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Maanav Gupta is a staff writer for Houston Cougars on SI. He graduated from the University of Houston in the summer of 2025 with his bachelor’s in journalism and a minor in Spanish. Gupta spent three years at the student newspaper, The Daily Cougar, and also covered the 2025 Final Four and National Championship as Houston beat writer for College Basketball Review. He also has his own YouTube channel, Maanav’s Sports Talk, where he has interviewed professional athletes and broadcasters like Jim Nantz, Jose Altuve, J.J. Watt, Rich Eisen, and Alperen Sengun. Gupta was also a contributor to the Houston athletic program as a student. You can find Gupta on X, Instagram and TikTok @MGSportsTalk.