How to watch, prediction for Michigan basketball vs. San Diego State in Game 1 of Players Era

The Michigan Wolverines are 4-0 to start the 2025-26 season and now the Maize and Blue heads to Las Vegas for the Players Era Tournament. Michigan will play on Monday and Tuesday against both San Diego State and Auburn.

The Wolverines will get the talented Aztecs for a late tip on Monday. And here is all the information you need to know.

How to watch Michigan take on San Diego State

Day: Monday, November 24
Time: 7:30 p.m. PT / 10:30 p.m. ET
Where: Michelob ULTRA Arena (Las Vegas)
Network: TruTV
On the call: Brian Anderson, Grant Hill, and Lauren Jbara
Radio: Michigan Sports Network from LEARFIELD

Game notes via MGoBlue

The Players Era Festival is a multi-day men's and women's college basketball showcase in Las Vegas. A significant element of the event is its focus on Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL). Teams play a series of early-round games, and their performance in those matchups determines final seeding.

Seeding is based on competitive metrics such as point differential, total points scored and points allowed. These factors determine who advances and how teams are positioned for the championship game.

The 18 teams competing in the Players Era include: ACC: Notre Dame and Syracuse; Big East: Creighton and No. 14 St. John's; Big Ten: Maryland, No. 7 Michigan, Oregon and Rutgers; Big 12: Baylor, No. 2 Houston, No. 16 Iowa State and No. 24 Kansas; Mountain West: San Diego State and UNLV; SEC: No. 11 Alabama, No. 22 Auburn and No. 20 Tennessee and West Coast: No. 13 Gonzaga

Michigan will be part of the Players Era for the next two seasons (2025, 2026) with the option of adding a third appearance in 2027. The Wolverines open the 2025 event facing San Diego State (Nov. 25) and Auburn (Nov. 26). U-M's final game is TBD.

San Diego State comes to Las Vegas at 2-1, rolling through its first two games against Long Beach State (77-45) and Idaho State (73-57) before getting pulled into a double-overtime shootout with Troy, falling 108-107.

Before heading west, SDSU head coach Brian Dutcher spent nine seasons on Michigan's staff under Steve Fisher, including the Wolverines' 1989 NCAA championship run. He played a significant role in recruiting and developing the famed Fab Five, who guided U-M to back-to-back appearances in the national title game in 1992 and 1993. When Fisher took over at San Diego State, Dutcher followed as his associate head coach -- a partnership that lasted nearly two decades until he assumed the reins of the program in 2017.

With four more points, Yaxel Lendeborg will reach 1,200 Division I points (currently 1,196). Overall, he has scored 2,222 career points (14.4 ppg).

Prediction

Talent-wise, Michigan is the better team, but you never know which Wolverines team you're going to get. If Michigan is anything like it was in the game against Oakland and Middle Tennessee, the Wolverines should be able to cover the 7.5 point spread -- but will turnover woes reveal themselves again?

San Diego State is coming off a bad loss to Troy, but the Aztecs are a good team. 7-footer Magoon Gwath is the real deal, and scored 20 in his season debut against Troy. SDSU also has G Myles Byrd, who can score the basketball. The Aztecs have four players who average 10 or more points.

In my opinion, this game comes down to Michigan's guard play. The big men, despite Gwath's presence, should be able to get their points. But will Elliott Cadeau play better after his turnover issues, and Michigan needs better perimeter play offensively and defensively.

While I think this game is close, I give Michigan the slight edge due to its depth and front court play.

Final score: Michigan 80, San Diego State 75

How to watch Michigan take on San Diego State

Game notes via MGoBlue

Prediction

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