Why Tennessee basketball isn't in Players Era Festival title game

Tennessee basketball dominated Rutgers and won a thriller against No. 2 Houston, but will not play for the title game in the Players Era Festival.

The No. 16 Vols (7-0) will play Kansas (5-2) in the third-place game on Nov. 26 (7 p.m. ET, TNT) at MGM Grand in Las Vegas because of Players Era rules to determine teams' third games.

No. 6 Michigan and No. 10 Gonzaga are matched up in the title game as the top two teams for going 2-0 and holding the edge in tiebreakers.

Why isn't Tennessee basketball playing in Players Era Festival title game?

Tennessee finished third in the standings as one of five 2-0 teams. It was behind Michigan and Gonzaga because of point differential. Kansas was fourth, setting up the matchup between the Vols and Jayhawks.

Michigan finished with a point differential of 40, the maximum allowed for two games. The Wolverines beat San Diego State 94-54 and No. 25 Auburn 102-72. Players Era rules cap a single-game point differential at 20.

Gonzaga had a 30-point differential because of a 95-85 win against No. 9 Alabama and a 100-61 win against Maryland.

UT had a point differential of 23, while Kansas' was 21. No. 13 Iowa State fell to fifth based on point differential despite going 2-0.

Tennessee beat Rutgers and Houston in Players Era Festival

Tennessee hammered Rutgers 85-60 on Nov. 24 in its opening game. Ja'Kobi Gillespie had a career-high 32 points with a career-best six 3-pointers. Nate Ament scored 20 points.

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The Vols rallied from an 11-point deficit to beat Houston 76-73 behind 22 points from Gillespie and outstanding performances from Bishop Boswell (10 points) and Jaylen Carey (13 points and seven rebounds).

What are the Players Era Festival tiebreakers?

The Players Era Festival determines the matchups for the third game by rankings teams based on record, head-to-head record, plus-minus tiebreaker with a maximum of 20 points per game, total points scored, total points allowed and AP ranking entering the tournament.

The top two teams play in a championship game and the third and fourth teams play in a third-place game on Nov. 26.

The teams ranked 5-14 after the first two games also play on Nov. 26 with teams from the same conference reseeded to avoid matchups. The tournament also took into account when teams played on Nov. 25 and avoiding nonconference game rematches.

The bottom four teams play Nov. 27.

Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on X @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee basketball schedule, why Vols aren't in Players Era title game