The Michigan Basketball team heads to Las Vegas to play in the 2025 Players Era Championship, where they’ll play three games in three days. The first two games have been set: San Diego State on Monday, November 24th; Auburn on Tuesday, November 25th. After the first two days, teams are ranked based on their record and the following tiebreakers: total point differential, total points scored, and total points allowed. The rankings determine the third team Michigan plays on Wednesday or Thursday.
The benefits of three games in three days
There are plenty of reasons why teams participate. First, is dollars. Teams get at least $1M for participating and if they win it all, an additional $1M. Second is exposure (all games are televised) for the teams and the players and their NIL profile. Since getting into the NCAA tournament (and the team’s seed) is based on strength of schedule and NET rankings (a component of which is beating quality opponents), tournaments like this are very important because the field features nine teams in the AP Top 25 poll, including Auburn, Houston, Alabama, Gonzaga, and Kansas.
But it is the unique format that Coach Dusty May sees as important. The Players Era Championship is like the B1G tournament where teams have to move on from one game to the next. In a recent Michigan Daily article, Michigan coach Dusty May said, “We want to win the Big Ten Tournament again… Three games in three days gives us an opportunity to prepare like that, to take care of our bodies and prioritize the next game immediately when the buzzer sounds after game one and game two.”
Just like the AAU days
Adjusting to a compressed tournament timeframe could remind the Michigan team of AAU basketball tournaments. Piling into cars, eating fast food, crammed into hotel rooms, early morning wake ups, late night bs-ing, run throughs in the lobby, and games in gyms with netting marking the sidelines. It was a mix of experiences, including intense competition, valuable life lessons in perseverance, and physical and mental challenges.
For a portal-built team, the experience of next week fast-forwards bonding and builds cohesion. Although it may have been long ago, foundational experiences do come back.
In an article in the Ithaca Voice, quotes from members of the AAU team “Immortal Wolfpack” after they unexpectedly won a U-15 tournament may predict what the #7th ranked “Michigan Wolverines” experience.
- When we work together and play together, our chemistry is unstoppable. Our chemistry helped us win together as a team. –Israel Mack
- We knew what we came to Florida to do, we wanted to win the whole tournament. We were locked in the whole time, and we didn’t take our foot off the gas. –Jasmir Robbins
- The Louisiana game was a tough one, but our chemistry and communication helped us survive and advance. We never got mad at each other; we kept communicating and that helped us come out with the win. –Cyahr Brooks
- We all want to go on and play at the college level, so this experience of being able to travel the country and play different teams from different regions was good for our development as players. –Isaiah Bodie