The Players Era is leveling up in a big way. After a successful run last year, the premier early-season college basketball event is expanding from 18 to 24 teams and splitting into two separate tournaments. And the headliners? The two most recent national champions: Michigan and Florida.

Let's start with the Wolverines. Michigan, fresh off cutting down the nets in April, will headline the Players Era Sixteen during Thanksgiving week in Las Vegas. If that sounds familiar, it should—the Wolverines absolutely dominated Gonzaga 101-61 to win last year's Players Era title. Even with nine newcomers on the roster, they're expected to be a national title contender again next season.

Then there's Florida. The Gators, who won it all a year ago and could enter next season as the No. 1 team in the nation, will lead the Players Era Eight a week earlier. With the potential return of Thomas Haugh, Alex Condon, and Rueben Chinyelu (if he opts out of the NBA draft), Florida is poised to boast the country's top frontcourt. The Gators didn't participate in the Players Era last year, but they did tip off their season in Las Vegas with a hard-fought 93-87 loss to Arizona.

The Players Era and ESPN have also inked a multiyear agreement for the men's tournaments, though specific terms remain under wraps. As for the women's tournament that debuted last year? No word yet on a sequel.

Here's how the fields stack up:

Players Era Eight (featuring Florida): Auburn, Houston, Kansas, Notre Dame, Rutgers, UNLV, and West Virginia.

Players Era Sixteen (featuring Michigan): Alabama, Baylor, Creighton, Gonzaga, Iowa State, Kansas State, Louisville, Maryland, Miami, Oregon, St. John's, San Diego State, Tennessee, TCU, and Texas Tech.

Now in its third year, the Players Era has quickly surpassed the Maui Invitational and Battle 4 Atlantis as the must-watch early season event. Tournament co-founder Seth Berger revealed during last year's event that participating teams receive at least $1 million on average in name, image, and likeness (NIL) money. The Big 12 Conference also holds an equity stake, and the top eight teams in the standings automatically qualify for the following year's event—a deal that runs through 2030.

Get ready, college hoops fans. This Thanksgiving, Las Vegas is the place to be.