Players Era Festival Changes Format; Tide lose Notre Dame Matchup
First reported by CBS Insider Jon Rothstein, The Players Era Festival has announced a change in format for the November tournament.
This change invokes an alteration in the tournament's schedule, causing the Crimson Tide to lose their game against Notre Dame. The Crimson Tide last played the Fighting Irish in the first round of the 2022 NCAA tournament, where the Tide fell 78-64.
The Tide originally played the Fighting Irish on the third day of the tournament.
The Crimson Tide will still play Houston on November 26 and Rutgers on November 27. However, the third day of the event has changed.
The first two days of the tournament will be similar to the "Group Stage" in European Football tournaments, with two different groups: Power and Impact. The Power Group includes SDSU, Creighton, Oregon, and Texas A&M, while the Impact Group includes Alabama, Houston, Rutgers, and Notre Dame.
The tournament's third day is "Championship Day," the No. 4, No. 3, No. 2, and No. 1 in both divisions will face off according to their seed. The game between both No. 1 seeds is the championship game, with a $500,000 bonus on the line.
While the Tide lose the opportunity to get revenge over Notre Dame, they will still play a strong non-con opponent in either SDSU, Creighton, Oregon, or Texas A&M. Notably, the Crimson Tide play the Creighton Bluejays two weeks later in Coleman Coliseum.
Now, the Tide can genuinely reach the expectations they've set for themselves this season. Last week, Alabama guard Latrell Wrightsell stated, "We're trying to win four championships: The Players Era, the SEC regular season, the SEC Tournament, and the national championship. Those are the expectations."
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