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Hang Up and Listen · Slate Podcasts

The Ballad of Lane Kiffin

December 1, 2025·1 hr 4 min·6 clips
Why did Ole Miss fans flip off Lane Kiffin as he left for LSU before the playoff?
The money question takes over fast. Once the ad heavy setup clears, the conversation moves to Players Era and the tournament economy forming around college basketball. Matt does not treat it like a cute side event. He says revenue generating sports are hunting for more money because paying players and funding rosters has changed the math. Players Era is described as growing from eight teams to 18, then to 32 next year. Even that sounds messy. Matt calls 18 imperfect and says 32 is probably too large, while still talking like the expansion is happening. Vegas is part of the draw and part of the machinery. The expected format has four 18 team pools, prearranged matchups, three games, and an extra return game for pool winners. The fallout is easy to see. Maui and the Bahamian battle for Atlantis lose some of their shine as Players Era gets bigger. The comparison is intentionally bleak: the College Football Playoff shows how a new structure can push older traditions to the side. This is not only nostalgia. The segment treats college basketball as another sport discovering that player payment changes everything around it, including the events people assumed were settled. Matt sounds almost grimly satisfied. People in college sports media asked for this world for a long time. Now the bill is here.

As heard by us

A clear-eyed look at Players Era's rapid growth and the way its money is reshaping college basketball's older holiday tournaments.

It treats the Players Era rise as more than a novelty, framing it as a real signal of where college basketball is headed. The piece traces the event's jump from 18 teams to 32, the pull of the money, and the sense that it could become a dominant force in the sport.

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Why you'd press play

Listen if you want the money, the model, and the fallout around college hoops.

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