2023 Big Ten Softball Tournament Bracket Released

ROSEMONT, Ill. (May 7, 2023) – The Big Ten Conference has announced the full 12-team, single-elimination bracket for the 24th Big Ten Softball Tournament that will take place May 10-13 at the University of Illinois’ Eichelberger Field in Urbana, Illinois.

Northwestern (35-11, 20-3 Big Ten) is the No. 1 seed for this year’s tournament after earning its ninth Big Ten Championship and second in a row. The Wildcats have won two Big Ten Tournament titles (1982, 2008) and will open this year’s tournament on Thursday with a quarterfinal contest at 4:30 p.m. (CT) live on the Big Ten Network against the winner of Wednesday’s first-round game between No. 8 seed Maryland and No. 9 seed Iowa.

Indiana (40-15, 18-5) is the No. 2 seed for this year’s Big Ten Tournament, the Hoosiers’ highest-ever seed for the tournament. It follows Indiana’s best conference finish since 2011, when it also finished second in the Big Ten standings, although there was no conference tournament held that year (nor in 1983, 1986 and 1994 when the Hoosiers won their three Big Ten titles). Indiana is seeking its first Big Ten Tournament championship and will begin its postseason schedule at 1:30 p.m. (CT) Thursday with a tournament quarterfinal game live on the Big Ten Network against the winner of Wednesday’s first-round matchup between No. 7 seed Penn State and 10th-seeded Michigan.

Minnesota (36-16, 17-6) earned the No. 3 seed for the Big Ten Tournament, the Golden Gophers’ eight top-three seed in the past nine tournaments. Winners of 11 in a row, Minnesota is in search of its sixth Big Ten Tournament title (second-most in tournament history) and will start this year’s quest for the crown at 11 a.m. (CT) Thursday live on the Big Ten Network with a quarterfinal game against the winner of Wednesday’s first-round contest between No. 6 seed Ohio State and 11th-seeded Rutgers.

Rounding out the top four seeds is defending Big Ten Tournament champion Nebraska (33-19, 13-10), which claimed the last of the tournament byes into the quarterfinal round. The Huskers captured their first Big Ten Tournament championship last year with a thrilling 3-1, eight-inning victory over Michigan in the final. Nebraska will open defense of its Big Ten Tournament title at 7 p.m. (CT) Thursday in the last quarterfinal, playing live on the Big Ten Network against the winner of Wednesday’s first-round matchup between fifth-seeded Wisconsin and No. 12 seed (and tournament host) Illinois.
 
All 11 games of this year’s Big Ten Tournament will not only be televised live to a national audience on the Big Ten Network, but will also be available on the FOX Sports app.
 
For more information on this year’s tournament, visit the Big Ten Tournament Central page at bigten.org/softball.
 
The 2023 Big Ten Softball Tournament schedule is as follows:

Wednesday, May 10 (First Round)
Game 1 (#6 Ohio State vs. #11 Rutgers) – 11 a.m. CT (BTN)
Game 2 (#7 Penn State vs. #10 Michigan) – 1:30 p.m. CT (BTN)
Game 3 (#8 Maryland vs. #9 Iowa) – 4:30 p.m. CT (BTN)
Game 4 (#5 Wisconsin vs. #12 Illinois) – 7 p.m. CT (BTN)

Thursday, May 11 (Quarterfinal)
Game 5 (#3 Minnesota vs. Game 1 winner) – 11 a.m. CT (BTN)
Game 6 (#2 Indiana vs. Game 2 winner) – 1:30 p.m. CT (BTN)
Game 7 (#1 Northwestern vs. Game 3 winner) – 4:30 p.m. CT (BTN)
Game 8 (#4 Nebraska vs. Game 4 winner) – 7 p.m. CT (BTN)
 
Friday, May 12 (Semifinals)
Game 9 (Game 5 vs. Game 6 winner) – 5 p.m. CT (BTN)
Game 10 (Game 7 vs. Game 8 winner) – 7:30 p.m. CT (BTN)
 
Saturday, May 13 (Championship)
Game 11 (Game 9 vs. Game 10 winner) – 3 p.m. CT (BTN)
 
NOTES: All times Central (local to the site) … dates and times are approximate and subject to change … Big Ten Network (BTN) games are also available on the FOX Sports app … for more information, please visit the tournament web site at bigten.org/softball.
 
Big Ten Conference (bigten.org) is an association of world-class universities whose member institutions share a common mission of research, graduate, professional and undergraduate teaching, and public service. Founded in 1896, Big Ten Conference has sustained a comprehensive set of shared practices and policies that enforce the priority of academics in the lives of students competing in intercollegiate athletics and emphasize the values of integrity, fairness, and competitiveness. The broad-based programs of the 14 Big Ten Conference institutions will provide over $200 million in direct financial support to more than 9,800 students for more than 11,000 participation opportunities on 350 teams in 42 different sports. Big Ten Conference sponsors 28 official conference sports, 14 for men and 14 for women, including the addition of men’s ice hockey and men’s and women’s lacrosse since 2013.