St. John’s men’s basketball team will face Oregon in its opening game at the 2026 Players Era Championship on Nov. 24, according to an announcement by Players Era on Thursday afternoon.
The tournament games are scheduled to take place at Michelob ULTRA Arena or T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. St. John’s is set to participate in bracket one of the Players Era 16 and could meet either Louisville or Texas Tech in the second round on Nov. 26, followed by a third game against Tennessee, Maryland, Iowa State, or San Diego State on Nov. 27.
If St. John’s wins all three games, they will remain in Las Vegas for the championship game against the winner of bracket two on Saturday, Nov. 28. The other side of the bracket includes teams such as Gonzaga, Kansas State, Baylor, Alabama, Michigan, Creighton, Miami and TCU.
The matchup between St. John’s and Oregon will be their third meeting; each team has one win from previous encounters dating back to a Ducks victory at Madison Square Garden during the third-place game of the 1975 NIT and a Red Storm win in Queens in January 1977.
This marks St. John’s second consecutive season participating in The Players Era Championship after last year’s performance included a win over Baylor and losses to ranked opponents Iowa State and Auburn.
A potential second-round contest with Louisville would be notable as it would mark Rick Pitino’s first meeting with his former program since returning to college basketball in 2020 after leading Louisville for sixteen seasons with six Elite Eights and three Final Fours including a national championship in 2013.
St. John’s Red Storm Men’s Basketball has claimed six Big East Tournament championships and two National Invitation Tournament titles while playing home games in Queens as part of the Big East Conference under their Red Storm nickname according to the official website.
