The Players Era Festival starts Monday in Las Vegas. It's an 18-team tournament (with a weird format) that pays schools millions of dollars to be there. How will the title game be decided? Will it ever be financially feasible? Is it responsible for the field of the 2025 Maui Invitational being ... lackluster?

Now in its second year, the Players Era that begins today is undeniably the place to be, having blown by the Maui Invitational and other such events with a field loaded with teams that could be playing deep into March.

There's plenty of high quality men's college basketball during Thanksgiving week, from the Player's Era Festival to the Maui Invitational.

"They didn't score to start the second half for a while, and Oscar [Cluff] is just getting every rebound, and that's demoralizing to the other team when they're struggling, and now they can't get some second-chance opportunities," explained Purdue coach Matt Painter.