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Another Feast Week, another buffet of elite nonconference matchups that offers college basketball teams the chance to pad their NCAA tournament résumés with high-quality wins. The best action will come out of Las Vegas, where 18 of the nation's top teams -- including eight of the AP Top 25 -- will play in the Players Era Festival, which guarantees each participating program $1 million. The marquee matchups include Houston vs. Tennessee on Tuesday, culminating in a championship game on Wednesday. While the talent is concentrated in the desert, there are still notable matchups elsewhere this Thanksgiving week. ESPN's Myron Medcalf, Jeff Borzello and Joe Lunardi preview the must-watch contests below -- and analyze results as they happen. All times in Eastern. Jump to: Monday's results and analysis  Tuesday games to watch  (14) St. John's vs. Baylor
5 p.m. | Players Era Festival Some of the country's most talented offensive players will compete in this one. For Baylor, the emergence of Tennessee transfer Cameron Carr as one of college basketball's elite scorers has been a pleasant surprise; he has paired incredibly well with powerful scorer Tounde Yessoufou, a projected lottery pick. On the other side, St. John's will counter with Bryce Hopkins and Zuby Ejiofor. But the big question is whether the Red Storm will get consistent guard play: Ian Jackson and Joson Sanon can score but also can struggle as decision-makers, while Dylan Darling is a sound lead guard but lacks the explosiveness of the other two. -- Borzello
  (17) Tennessee vs. (3) Houston
6 p.m. | Players Era Festival Tennessee will hope Nate Ament (No. 4 in ESPN's latest 2026 NBA mock draft) can lead the No. 1 offensive rebounding team in America to a win over the No. 1 defensive in America after the Volunteers lost to the Cougars in the Elite Eight last March. On the other side, Kelvin Sampson built his Houston program on experience, but NBA prospects Kingston Flemings (projected No. 19) and Chris Cenac Jr. (projected No. 7) could be the ticket to the coach's first national title. We might not see either team hit 70 points in this game, but the efforts of star freshmen could decide the outcome. -- Medcalf
  (7) Michigan vs. (21) Auburn
8:30 p.m. | Players Era Festival We're still waiting to see the best of both Auburn and Michigan, though each had a dominant performance last week before heading out to Nevada, with the Tigers defeating Jackson State 112-66 and the Wolverines beating Middle Tennessee 86-61. The question is whether either opponent gets more consistent point guard play. Auburn's Tahaad Pettiford has really struggled shooting the ball after looking like one of the most dynamic guards in the country last season, while Michigan's Elliot Cadeau registered nine assists and 13 turnovers across his past three outings. With injured Tigers forward Keyshawn Hall expected to sit, Auburn also needs to find a counter for Yaxel Lendeborg. -- Borzello Thursday games to watch  (16) North Carolina vs. (11) Michigan State
4:30 p.m. | Fort Myers Tip-Off Assuming North Carolina and Michigan State survive their respective opponents on Tuesday, this pair of blue bloods should put undefeated records on the line in Florida. The Spartans have been the more impressive of the two -- embarrassing Kentucky at last week's Champions Classic -- while the Tar Heels already equaled their Quadrant 1 win total from a season ago by knocking off Kansas. North Carolina remains short-handed with guard Seth Trimble out for the foreseeable future, but 6-foot-10 freshman Caleb Wilson has been a double-double generator. The Spartans are older, with three seniors in their top six, but have yet to shot the ball well. If form holds, this will come down to UNC's offense against Tom Izzo's typical smothering defense. -- Lunardi
  (4) Duke vs. (22) Arkansas
8 p.m. | CBS Sports Thanksgiving Classic This version of Duke has an edge over last season's edition: a remarkable ability to get to the free throw line, with nearly a 50% rise in free throw rate from last season as of writing. That strength, visible in last week's win over Kansas, allows Cameron Boozer & Co. to control the flow of the game and the post. An Arkansas team that needed a miracle to beat Winthrop last week will demand another epic effort from freshmen Darius Acuff Jr. and Meleek Thomas, who are averaging a combined 35.1 points and 8.5 assists per game. Equally important for this contest in Chicago will be the Razorbacks' defensive effort in the paint from Nick Pringle and Trevon Brazile (1.8 blocks per game). -- Medcalf Friday games to watch  (5) UConn vs. (13) Illinois
12:30 p.m. | SentinelOne Showdown Two of America's supreme offenses will face off at New York's Madison Square Garden on Black Friday. Sign me up. Each suffered its first loss of the season last week, with UConn falling at home to Arizona and Illinois dropping one to Alabama in Chicago. How healthy will the Huskies be for this one? Tarris Reed Jr. missed the Arizona loss with an ankle injury, while Braylon Mullins (ankle) hasn't played yet this season. UConn is capable of exploiting Illinois' defensive issues, while the Huskies could be vulnerable to the Illini's offensive rebounding prowess. -- Borzello Monday results  (12) Gonzaga 95, (8) Alabama 85
Players Era Festival Tyon Grant-Foster (21 points), who is gradually finding a role after missing summer workouts because of his eligibility case, could be the X factor for Gonzaga's national title ambitions. As dominant as Gonzaga was against Alabama, especially in the paint, it's important to remember that the Bulldogs have had Grant-Foster in the fold for only about a month. Monday's win was the first time the former WAC Player of the Year looked fully comfortable this season. His 6-foot-7 frame gives them a defensive boost with his ability to guard multiple positions, and he creates offensive mismatches when paired with big men Graham Ike and Braden Huff. Few opponents have an extra 6-foot-7 defender they can throw at Grant-Foster. He's a unique problem for opponents, which changes Gonzaga's ceiling. For Alabama, the loss was more proof that the Crimson Tide will have trouble against top opponents if Aden Holloway isn't the maestro they need him to be. In the first 38 minutes, he missed 9 of 15 field goal attempts and registered only one assist. Labaron Philon Jr. (29 points) could be the front-runner for SEC Player of the Year, but he can't do everything for Nate Oats' squad. That much was clear on Monday. -- Medcalf
 (21) Auburn 84, Oregon 73
Players Era Festival For Auburn to consider this trip to Las Vegas a success, the Tigers needed two things: for Tahaad Pettiford to snap out of his early-season slump, and for Keyshawn Hall to recover in time to suit up. They got both of those in Monday's win over Oregon. Pettiford had his best outing of the season, finishing with 24 points, four rebounds and four assists. He came out ultra-aggressive, with five shots in the first six minutes, and consistently put pressure on the defense. His perimeter shot still isn't falling (he's 8-for-41 from 3 this season), but he still found ways to make plays. And Hall was not only healthy, but healthy enough to start -- and make his usual impact. The UCF transfer posted 18 points and six boards, looking like one of the most productive players in the SEC. In order to avoid going 0-2 in the desert, Oregon needs to take much better care of the ball against San Diego State on Tuesday. The Ducks gave the ball away to the Tigers 18 times and rank in the bottom third nationally in turnover rate. The Aztecs, meanwhile, force turnovers at a top-10 clip. -- Borzello
 (15) Iowa State 83, (14) St. John's 82
Players Era Festival It was billed as a battle between two of the best defensive teams in the country, two teams that force turnovers at a high rate -- specifically, in the case of Iowa State, at the highest rate. But the first half was more up-tempo and back-and-forth than expected, before the defensive grind-it-out affair commenced down the stretch. Iowa State's frontcourt duo of Milan Momcilovic (23 points) and Joshua Jefferson (17) caused problems for St. John's defense, and the Red Storm really struggled to generate clean looks down the stretch without a consistent playmaker at the point of attack. All eyes for Iowa State are on Tamin Lipsey, who left the game in the final minutes and went straight back to the locker room with his jersey over his face. -- Borzello
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