Kansas will play Notre Dame and Syracuse, two ACC schools, in the first pair of games in the 2025 Players Era Festival.

Teams that go 2-0 on the first two days of the tournament will pool into the championship round. Point differential, total points scored, and points allowed will all affect the tally, serving as tiebreakers, just like in 2024 when Oregon won the inaugural event over Alabama.

The pair of high-major opponents add to a non-conference schedule that features road games at North Carolina and NC State, a matchup in New York City against Duke and a visit to Allen Fieldhouse by UConn. It also includes a Border Showdown matchup with Mizzou at the T-Mobile Center in December.