Alabama Basketball will travel to Las Vegas the week of Thanksgiving to compete in the Players Era Festival multi-team event.

The event is the first NIL-based event in college basketball and offers participating teams NIL rewards for participation, as well as an additional NIL reward for the winning team. All participating teams are guaranteed three games during the week.

The teams will play two games in group play on Tuesday and Wednesday of the week, with each team’s record in group play determining seeding for the final matchday on Saturday. The first place finisher in each group plays in the championship game, the second place finisher plays in the 3rd place game, and so on.

Alabama’s first game in group play is against Houston, one of the best programs in the country and one that Crimson Tide fans should be familiar with. Alabama defeated Houston in a home-and-home series in the 2022 and 2023 seasons, and now the two teams will meet again at a neutral site with both teams ranked in the top 10. Both Nate Oats and Houston coach Kelvin Sampson are considered two of the best in the sport.

Houston is currently 3-1 on the season, winning three buying games but losing a close game to Auburn at the Houston Rockets arena.

Alabama’s other opponent in group play is Rutgers, a team that started the season at the NBA level thanks to two newcomers Ace Bailey And Dylan Harper on his squad. Alabama Center Cliff Omoruyi will get to play against his former team after transferring from Rutgers to Alabama this offseason after spending four seasons there.

Alabama’s third game will be against Creighton, Oregon, San Diego State and Texas A&M, depending on how the seeding develops. Some matchups could have interesting scheduling discrepancies, as the Crimson Tide already has a non-conference game scheduled against Creighton and a possible game against Texas A&M would not count toward the SEC game.

How to watch, listen and other important information

Opponent: Rutgers Scarlet Knights (4-1)

Date: Wednesday, November 27th
Start time: 9:00 p.m. CT

Location: Las Vegas, Nevada.
Venue: MGM Grand Garden Arena
Capacity: 16,800

Television: TBS
– Piece by Piece: Brian Anderson
– Analyst: Grant Hill

Radio: Crimson Tide Sports Network
– Play-by-Play: Roger Hoover
– Analyst: Bryan Passink

Satellite Radio: CTSN on Sirius/XM 131 or 201

Link to Varsity Network: HEAR

Series record: Alabama leads 1-0
Last meeting: December 27, 1969
– Alabama 80, Rutgers 69

Point spread: Alabama -9.5

Statistical leaders in Alabama:

– Rating: Mark Sears (15.5 PPG)
– Rebounding: Grant Nelson (7.7 RPG)
– Assists: Labaron Philon (4.7 APG)

Rutgers Stats Guide:

– Rating: Dylan Harper (22.5 PPG)
– Rebounding: Jordan Derkack (5.8 RPG)
– Assists: Dylan Harper (5.3 APG)

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