6 Big Ten Teams to Compete in NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Tournament

View 2026 NCAA Div. I Women's Lacrosse Tournament Bracket

ROSEMONT, Ill. – Six Big Ten women’s lacrosse teams will continue their seasons this week, as Johns Hopkins, Maryland, Michigan, Northwestern, Penn State, and Rutgers have been selected to participate in the 2026 NCAA Div. I Women’s Lacrosse Tournament.

This marks the first time since the conference began sponsoring women’s lacrosse in 2015 that six Big Ten teams have been named to the tournament field, besting the previous high mark of five squads in 2022, 2023, and 2024.

 Of the six teams selected, four, Johns Hopkins, Maryland, Michigan, and Northwestern are among the eight seeded teams in the 29-team field.

First-round games will be played Friday, May 8 with second-round matchups taking place on Sunday, May 10. The quarterfinals are then slated for Thursday, May 14. Those first three rounds will all take place at campus sites around the country.

The quarterfinal winners will advance to the NCAA national semifinals and championship, which will take place May 22 and 24 at Northwestern University’s Martin Stadium in Evanston, Ill. It will be the first time the championship is played in the Midwest region and the furthest west the championship has ever traveled.

Games in the first two rounds will be broadcast on ESPN+, with quarterfinal and semifinal rounds broadcast on ESPNU. The national championship game will be broadcast live on ESPN at 12 noon ET.

Northwestern (15-3, 7-1 Big Ten) was selected a as the number one overall seed and is one of three teams to earn a bye into Sunday’s second round. The four-time defending Big Ten Tournament champions will look to begin a seventh consecutive trip to championship weekend when they host the winner of a first-round game between American Conference tournament champion James Madison and Notre Dame. Sunday’s opening draw is set for 2 p.m. ET.

Maryland (16-3, 6-2 Big Ten) claimed the number three seed and joins Northwestern with a bye to Sunday’s second round. The Terrapins will make their 41st NCAA Tournament appearance when they host either Ivy League tournament champion Princeton or Rutgers on Sunday at Noon. ET.

Johns Hopkins (14-4, 6-2 Big Ten), the number four seed, will make its eighth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance on Friday, when it welcomes back-to-back America East Conference tournament champion Albany to Homewood Field for a 3 p.m. ET showdown. Awaiting the winner of the first-round matchup will be Patriot League tournament runner-up Army or Fairfield, winner of the MAAC tournament, who will meet on the second half of Friday’s doubleheader in Baltimore.

The tournament’s number seven seed, Michigan (12-6, 5-3 Big Ten), will make its fifth straight NCAA Tournament appearance when it plays host to Big South Conference tournament champion Mercer on Friday at 3 p.m. ET at the U-M Lacrosse Stadium.

Penn State (12-6, 4-4 Big Ten) will make 27th all-time NCAA Tournament appearance when it returns to Ann Arbor to face ACC Tournament runner-up Stanford on Friday at 6 p.m. ET. The winner of the Penn State-Stanford game will face the winner of the Michigan-Mercer contest on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.

Rutgers (10-8, 4-4 Big Ten) will make its first tournament appearance since 2022, when it plays Princeton on Friday at 2 p.m. at Maryland’s Field Hockey and Women’s Lacrosse Complex in College Park, Md., with the winner to face Maryland in Sunday’s second round.