The Iowa State Cyclones were one of 18 teams that got to participate in the Players Era Festival ahead of Thanksgiving during the 2025-26 men’s college basketball season. There were a few gripes from fans about the format of the event. Each team played two pool play games before getting put into a bracket based on point differential. It led to some unfortunate outcomes, such as Iowa State missing out on the money rounds of the event despite a 2-0 record. However, this year’s event will be different. 24 teams are being invited in 2026, and it is being broken up into two brackets. The competition will span two weeks. An eight-team field will start play the week of Nov. 16, and the week of Thanksgiving will feature a 16-team field, with 37 games being played and aired on ESPN.…