The San Diego State Aztecs learned their first opponent in the 2026 Players Era 16 during Thanksgiving week, and it’s a big one. Tournament organizers announced the brackets on Thursday and paired SDSU, which missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time in six seasons, against Iowa State, the No. 2 seed in the Midwest Region that lost to Tennessee in the Sweet 16.The Aztecs and Cyclones will face off Nov. 24 at Michelob Ultra Arena. The winner advances to face the winner of the game between Tennessee and Maryland. Tennessee reached the Elite Eight before being routed by eventual national champion Michigan. Maryland finished 12-21 after its season ended with a loss to Iowa in the second round of the Big Ten tournament. Those four teams are at the top of Bracket 1. The bottom of that bracket features St. John’s against Oregon and Louisville against Texas Tech. Bracket 2 is topped by the Gonzaga Bulldogs, who on July 1 will officially join the new-look Pac-12, along with SDSU. The Zags will face Kansas State, with the winner to face either Baylor or Alabama. The bottom of that bracket includes defending champion Michigan, which routed the Aztecs by 40 points in last year’s Players Era Festival, playing Creighton, and Miami facing TCU.All teams are off on Nov. 25, with the semifinals and consolation games set for Nov. 26. The semifinal winners will face off on Nov. 27, when other games will determine third through eighth places in each bracket. The championship game is set for Nov. 28.Each team is expected to make more than $1 million in NIL money, with the champion getting an additional $1 million in NIL opportunities.What’s new this yearLast year’s Players Era Festival had 18 teams, which didn’t work for bracket play. Instead, teams knew their first two opponents, and the teams’ third opponent was determined by victories and point differentials. There are also two tournaments in consecutive weeks, one of them being the 16-team tournament the Aztecs are in, and an eight-team tourney.SDSU went 1-2 in the Players Era Festival last year, with blowout losses to Michigan and Baylor sandwiched around a win over Oregon.The Iowa State-SDSU seriesThis will be the seventh meeting between the teams, with the Cyclones holding a 4-2 lead. Their most recent meeting was in the fifth-place game at the 2018 Maui Invitational, which Iowa State won 87-57.The scheduleSDSU’s schedule for next season is slowly coming together. The Aztecs will play in the inaugural National University Bill Walton Classic at Pechanga Arena on Nov. 7 against an opponent to be determined. Yet to be finalized is a reported showdown against former conference rival BYU on Dec. 19 at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert. Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow