Jason OwensStaff writerWed, November 26, 2025 at 1:20 AM UTC·2 min readTennessee fared better much Tuesday than in last season's Elite Eight loss to Houston.
In a high-level matchup of two of the best teams in the country, No. 17 Tennessee won a 76-73 thriller to hand No. 3 Houston its first loss of the season at the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas. The win for Tennessee avenged a blowout NCAA tournament loss in March in which Houston held the Vols to 15-first-half points.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWith the win, Tennessee improves to 2-0 in the 18-team event that lured teams to Las Vegas with NIL payouts. But thanks in part to the event's convoluted format, Tuesday's win didn't guarantee Tennessee a spot in Wednesday's championship or even the third-place game.
In an event where multiple teams will finish the first two rounds at 2-0, a messy tiebreaker formula that includes head-to-head results and point differential will determine who advances to the championship round. Only after the remaining four games are played on Tuesday will the championship round be set.
Also not clear in the second year of the event is the payout structure. Per Sportico, the payout appears to be less than the $1 million per team that was promised in last year's inaugural event that featured featured eight teams.
Citing language provided by event organizers, the event "will feature over $20 million in guaranteed sponsor NIL activities" that will be split among the 18 men's teams and four women's teams participating. How that money is distributed among teams is unlear. It's also not clear how that money filters down to players once it's distributed. That will be determined by compliance clearinghouse NIL Go, according to the Athletic.
This story will be updated.
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