LAS VEGAS — Despite going 2-0 with wins over No. 15 St. John’s and Creighton, Iowa State basketball will be missing out on more money-making opportunities at the Players Era Festival.
Due to the tiebreaker criteria, which place a heavy emphasis on point differential, the Cyclones missed out on a spot in the championship and third-place games. They will play Syracuse instead on Wednesday, Nov. 25 at 12 p.m. CT. The game will be televised on TNT.
Iowa State was the only team to go 2-0 in the Players Era Festival and miss out on the championship or third-place games.
Syracuse has gone 0-2 in the Players Era Festival so far. The Orange lost to Houston in overtime on Monday, 78-74, then lost to Kansas, 71-60, on Tuesday.
Michigan and Gonzaga will play in the Nov. 26 championship game, while Kansas will face Tennessee in the third-place game earlier that day.
Point differential (capped up to a 20-point margin of victory) was a major metric used in the tiebreakers.
Iowa State went 2-0 with a combined +19 point differential over St. John’s and Creighton.
Michigan secured 30-plus point wins over Auburn and San Diego State. Gonzaga had a 10-point win over Alabama, followed by a 100-61 win over Maryland to secure the other championship game spot.
Kansas finished with a +21 point differential after defeating Syracuse and Notre Dame. Tennessee had a +23 applied point differential after defeating Houston and Rutgers (who it bulldozed 85-60, exceeding the point differential cap).
The Players Era Festival is slated to expand to 32 teams next year, and according to founder and CEO Seth Berger, the tiebreaker format will stay.
“We’re trying to bring November basketball to more casual fans, so one of the things we have to do is continue educating about why our format is unique and it’s exciting,” Berger said. “In this format, every shot matters, every basket matters, every minute matters.
“Like we saw earlier today, Kansas was fouling (Syracuse’s William Kyle III) to put him on the free-throw line to keep trying to get more opportunities for extra possessions and they ended up picking a couple extra points up. As people get comfortable with it, it’ll be one of the positive things about the event, understanding it’s brand new.”
Eugene Rapay covers Iowa State athletics for the Des Moines Register. Contact Eugene at erapay@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @erapay5.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State basketball miss Players Era championship despite 2-0 record
Reporting by Eugene Rapay, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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