Big Ten Reveals 2026 Softball Tournament Bracket

ROSEMONT, Ill. - The Big Ten Conference has announced the complete 12-team, single-elimination bracket for the Big Ten Softball Tournament presented by Allstate that will take place May 6-9 at the University of Maryland.  

Nebraska (43-6, 23-1 Big Ten) is the No. 1 overall seed for this year’s tournament after clinching the program’s first-ever Big Ten regular season title, tying the Big Ten record for most conference wins in a single season. The Huskers begin the postseason on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. ET in a quarterfinal game against the winner of No. 9 Michigan and No. 8 Ohio State.  

Oregon (40-11, 20-4 Big Ten) clinched the No. 2 seed after not dropping a single Big Ten series throughout the regular season, pushing its conference series winning streak to 16 dating back to last season. The Ducks will face the winner of No. 10 Purdue vs. No. 7 Wisconsin in Thursday’s third quarterfinal game.  

UCLA (45-7, 20-4 Big Ten) received the No. 3 seed and will meet either No. 11 Penn State or No. 6 Northwestern in the final quarterfinal game on Thursday.  

Rounding out the top four seeds is Indiana (41-13, 17-7 Big Ten), which won seven of its eight conference series. The Hoosiers will play in Thursday’s first quarterfinal game against the winner of No. 12 Minnesota and No. 5 Washington.  

All 11 games of this year’s Big Ten Tournament will be televised live on Big Ten Network and will also be available in the FOX Sports app.  

The 2026 Big Ten Softball Tournament presented by Allstate schedule is as follows:  

Wednesday, May 6 (First Round)  
Game 1 (#12 Minnesota vs. #5 Washington) - 11 a.m. ET (BTN) 
Game 2 (#9 Michigan vs. #8 Ohio State) - 1:30 p.m. ET (BTN) 
Game 3 (#10 Purdue vs. #7 Wisconsin) - 4:30 p.m. ET (BTN) 
Game 4 (#11 Penn State vs. #6 Northwestern) - 7 p.m. ET (BTN) 

Thursday, May 7 (Quarterfinals) 
Game 5 (#4 Indiana vs. Game 1 winner) - 11 a.m. ET (BTN) 
Game 6 (#1 Nebraska vs. Game 2 winner) - 1:30 p.m. ET (BTN) 
Game 7 (#2 Oregon vs. Game 3 winner) - 4:30 p.m. ET (BTN) 
Game 8 (#3 UCLA vs. Game 4 winner) - 7 p.m. ET (BTN) 

Friday, May 8 (Semifinals) 
Game 9 (Game 5 vs. Game 6 winner) – 5 p.m. ET (BTN) 
Game 10 (Game 7 vs. Game 8 winner) – 7:30 p.m. ET (BTN) 

Saturday, May 9 (Championship)  
Game 11 (Game 9 vs. Game 10 winner) – 4 p.m. ET (BTN)