West Virginia to Compete in Players Era Tournament in 2026, Receive $1 Million in NIL

Huge news for the Mountaineers just hours after taking down Arizona State.

Jan 6, 2026; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Ross Hodge celebrates after defeating the Cincinnati Bearcats at Hope Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-Imagn Images | Ben Queen-Imagn Images

Next season, the West Virginia Mountaineers are headed to Sin City. Thursday morning, the Big 12 Conference announced that WVU, along with Texas Tech, TCU, and Kansas State, will participate in the 2026 Players Era Men’s Championship Field.

The Players Era Festival is rapidly becoming one of the most popular MTEs in college basketball, thanks to its NIL payments, where participants receive $1 million each, with the winner securing more NIL prize money. The Players Era and the Big 12 signed a deal recently that would guarantee the league having eight participants in the field each year. The four schools from the Big 12 who are already participants and will be next year are Baylor, Houston, Kansas, and Iowa State.

“We are excited to be invited with seven of our Big 12 Conference members to participate in the 2026 Players Era Men’s Championship,” said WVU head coach Ross Hodge. “The exposure this tournament presents will be beneficial to our program, our University, and the state of West Virginia. This has become the biggest in-season tournament in college basketball, and we are thrilled to be a part of this prestigious event.”

This season, games were played at the MGM Grand Garden Arena & Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas. The expectation is that this is where games will take place in 2026 as well. Dates, times, matchups, and game locations will be announced at a later date. What we do know is that the event will take place during Thanksgiving week, just as it has each of the past two years.

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