St. John’s Basketball Gets Awful Draw for Players Era Festival

The Players Era Festival bracket is not a great one for the St. John's Red Storm.

Mar 13, 2026; New York, NY, USA; St. John's Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino coaches against the Seton Hall Pirates during the first half at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

For the second consecutive year, the St. John’s Red Storm will be participating in the Players Era Festival, a college basketball tournament held during the week of Thanksgiving in Las Vegas that now features 24 teams.

There is an eight-team bracket, the Players Era 8, that will take the court from Nov. 17-19. The Players Era 16, which the Red Storm is in, will be played from Nov. 24-28. St. John’s knew their first opponent of the tournament would be the Oregon Ducks, but the rest of the bracket and field have been revealed.

In the eight-team pod, teams will play their own bracket before the last team standing faces the winner of the other bracket to become the Players Era 16 champion. The winner of the Red Storm and Ducks matchup will face the winner between the Louisville Cardinals and Texas Tech Red Raiders.

The top of their bracket will feature the Tennessee Volunteers playing the Maryland Terrapins and the San Diego State Aztecs facing the Iowa State Cyclones. There are quality teams throughout the Players Era Festival, and the Johnnies are talented themselves, but this is a brutal draw for Rick Pitino and the team.

St. John's fans will have to stay up late during Players Era Festival

Feb 23, 2025; New York, New York, USA; St. John's Red Storm fans at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Not because of who they will have to play, but more so because of when they will be taking the court. Everyone begins playing on Tuesday, Nov. 24, with all four matchups being held at Michelob Ultra Arena.

Likely because they are facing off against the team furthest west in Oregon, the Red Storm are stuck playing in the latest starting time slot, scheduled for 10:30 p.m. ET. As the second game of the session, there is certainly a chance that the start time is pushed back.

Should St. John’s win their first game, they will have to play at 9 p.m. ET on Nov. 26, which is Thanksgiving night. A win would advance the Red Storm to the Championship Game, which is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET on Friday, Nov. 27. The Players Era 16 championship is set for 10:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Nov. 28.

An official Players Era 16 bracket:

Pretty insane there’s a chance for St. John’s to play at 6:00pm PT on Thursday and then have to play again at 10:00am PT on Friday

(Somebody will have to do it between Texas Tech, Oregon, St. John’s, and Louisville) #sjubb pic.twitter.com/XMo0cFX0P6

— Kevin Connelly (@KevinConnelly24) October 20, 2026

That semifinal game is where things become tough. A loss in that matchup would result in having to return to the court at 1 p.m. ET the following day for the Third Place Game, meaning a turnaround time of about 14 hours, at best.

A loss in the first game against Oregon would mean an 11:30 p.m. ET start time on Thanksgiving night in a consolation game. A victory there would put them into the Fifth Place game, which is scheduled for 11:30 p.m. ET on Friday, Nov. 27. A loss puts them in the Seventh Place game, set for Friday, Nov. 27 at 3:30 p.m. ET.

This is an unfortunate turn of events for the team playing a schedule that won’t provide much rest, but also for the fans. If St. John’s does well and continues advancing, they won’t tip off a single game before 9 p.m. ET, a tall order for East Coast fans.