No. 17 Tennessee upends No. 3 Houston at Players Era Festival, but isn't guaranteed a spot in championship game

No. 17 Tennessee upends No. 3 Houston at Players Era Festival, but isn't guaranteed a spot in championship gameStory byLAS VEGAS, NEVADA - NOVEMBER 25: Nate Ament #10 of the Tennessee Volunteers drives to the basket against Milos Uzan #7 of the Houston Cougars in the first half during the Players Era Championship basketball tournament at Grand Garden Arena on November 25, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Zach Del Bello/Players Era/Getty Images) (Zach Del Bello/Players Era via Getty Images)Jason OwensStaff writerWed, November 26, 2025 at 1:20 AM UTC·2 min read

Tennessee 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 Volunteers to 15-first-half points.

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With 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 unclear. 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.

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Tennessee wins a thriller

But back to the basketball, which was excellent Tuesday night. A Houston team that returned three starters from last season's national finalist and added two five-star freshmen to the lineup entered halftime with a 39-35 lead.

But Tennessee kept things close before taking a 47-46 lead with 12:32 remaining. The Volunteers didn't trail again. Houston continued to punch back to keep the margin within two possessions for the remainder of the game.

And it wasn't settled until Milos Uzan's 3/4-court heave just missed the mark at the buzzer.

This story will be updated.

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