2026 Allstate Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament Tips Off Wednesday

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Big Ten Weekly Release - March 4

Big Ten. Big News.

• The Big Ten Conference announced the full bracket for the 2026 Allstate Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament, which will take place March 4-8 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
• Single-session tickets are still on sale and available for $23.50 to $54.45, depending on the session (prices are inclusive of all Ticketmaster and facility fees). All seating is reserved for the 2026 Allstate Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament. Fans are encouraged to visit the official Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament website (bigten.org/WBBT) and follow Big Ten Women’s Basketball on X (@B1GWBBall) for more information on the 2026 Allstate Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament.
• All 14 games of this year’s Big Ten Tournament will be broadcast live to a national audience, starting with the opening round being streamed on Peacock. The Big Ten Network (and the FOX Sports app) will broadcast the second round through semifinal games from Thursday to Saturday. The championship game on Sunday, March 8 will tip off at 2:15 p.m. ET on CBS and will be the third time the network has carried the title game.
• UCLA captured the 2025-26 Big Ten Women’s Basketball Championship outright for the first time in program history after defeating Wisconsin, 80-60. The Bruins finished the regular season undefeated on their home court for the first time since their 2016-17 campaign.
• UCLA finished its conference slate with a perfect 18-0 record to lock in the No. 1 seed for the Big Ten Tournament. The Bruins are just the fourth team in Big Ten history to go undefeated in conference play – Ohio State (1985), Purdue (1999) and Maryland (2015).
• The NCAA had its final top 16 reveal on Sunday, which included seven Big Ten teams. UCLA was tabbed as the overall No. 2 seed, while No. 6 Iowa and No. 8 Michigan rounded out the top 10. Maryland came in at No. 13, followed by No. 14 Michigan State, No. 15 Minnesota and No. 16 Ohio State. The Hawkeyes and Wolverines are projected to be 2-seeds, while the Terrapins, Spartans, Golden Gophers and Buckeyes are projected 4-seeds.
• The Big Ten Conference announced its 2025-26 women’s basketball all-conference teams and individual award recipients Tuesday live on the Big Ten Network’s “B1G Today” show. UCLA senior center Lauren Betts pulled double duty after being selected as the Big Ten Player of the Year and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year by both the conference coaches and a select panel of Big Ten media members. USC guard Jazzy Davidson was voted Big Ten Freshman of the Year, while UCLA graduate forward Angela Dugalić garnered Big Ten Sixth Player of the Year laurels. UCLA’s Cori Close was tabbed as the Big Ten Coach of the Year.
• This week’s Associated Press (AP) poll featured seven teams from the Big Ten. UCLA held steady at No. 2 and was joined by No. 8 Michigan, No. 9 Iowa, No. 11 Ohio State, No. 14 Maryland, No. 18 Michigan State and No. 19 Minnesota. Washington and Illinois received votes.
• The same seven programs made an appearance in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA)/USA Today Top 25 poll – No. 2 UCLA, No. 7 Michigan, No. 9 Iowa, No. 11 Ohio State, No. 13 Maryland, No. 17 Michigan State and No. 20 Minnesota. Washington garnered votes.
• The Big Ten currently leads all Division I conferences in assists (16.6 apg), field goal percentage (.454), three-point field goal percentage (.344) and free throw percentage (.740), while ranking second in scoring (75.4 ppg).
• Through games on March 2, the Big Ten boasts nine teams in the top 25 and 12 in the top 50 of the NCAA’s NET Rankings, the top marks among all conferences. UCLA paces the Big Ten contingent at No. 2, followed by No. 6 Michigan, No. 8 Minnesota, No. 9 Iowa, No. 14 Maryland, No. 15 Michigan State, No. 17 Ohio State, No. 22 USC, No. 25 Nebraska, No. 26 Oregon, No. 28 Washington and No. 32 Illinois.
• Through Tuesday’s contests, Big Ten teams have combined to win 74 Quad 1 games, the most among Division I conferences, with 12 teams posting at least two Quad 1 wins. UCLA leads the country with 14 Quad 1 victories and the Big Ten is the only conference that has seven teams with at least five Quad 1 wins.
• Every day is a battle as the Big Ten has 14 teams in the top 25 for NET strength of schedule – UCLA (1st), USC (2nd), Michigan (5th), Iowa (6th), Penn State (8th), Ohio State (11th), Wisconsin (12th), Northwestern (13th), Michigan State (15th), Rutgers (16th), Nebraska (17th), Washington (19th), Purdue (21st) and Minnesota (25th).
• Illinois leads the country shooting 81.6 percent from the free throw line. UCLA ranks second in assist/turnover ratio (1.72), assists per game (22.1), field goal percentage (.510) and rebound margin (15.8).
• Offensive production continues to be the calling card of the Big Ten Conference. The league has eight teams ranked in the top 25 in field goal percentage – UCLA (2nd – .510), Iowa (6th – .498), Michigan State (11th – .482), Nebraska (12th – .478), Michigan (14th – .477), Indiana (15th – .474), Ohio State (23rd – .462) and Penn State (24th – .461).
• Sharing the rock comes naturally for the Big Ten with seven teams featured in the top 25 rankings for assists per game, including five in the top 15 – UCLA (2nd – 22.1), Iowa (3rd – 21.2), Michigan State (10th – 18.4), Nebraska (12th – 18.3), Ohio State (13th – 18.1), Michigan (17th – 17.6) and Northwestern (19th – 17.5).
• The Big Ten has consistently ranked among the top three conferences in women’s basketball attendance for the past three decades and that trend has continued into the 2025-26 season. Currently, 15 Big Ten schools rank among the top 40 in the nation in average attendance, including 10 in the top 25, with both figures leading all Division I conferences. Iowa is second nationally in attendance (14,998 fans per game), followed by Indiana (9th – 7,866), Maryland (10th – 7,213), Ohio State (12th – 5,930), Illinois (14th – 5,766), Nebraska (15th – 5,701), UCLA (18th – 5,320), Purdue (20th – 5,125), Oregon (22nd – 5,066) and USC (23rd – 4,750).
• HISTORY. MADE. The Big Ten is the first conference to ever have nine teams ranked in three different Associated Press (AP) polls in a single season – Dec. 8, Dec. 15 and Jan. 5. The Big Ten has had nine programs ranked in the AP poll four times, first achieved on Dec. 2, 2024, and is the only conference to have nine ranked teams since 1996.
• The Big Ten had a 170-33 (.837) combined record in non-conference play this season, which ranked second behind the SEC (197-24, .891) and ahead of the Big 12 (156-39, .800) and ACC (144-72, .667).
• Big Ten Conference Deputy Commissioner and Michigan women’s basketball great Diane Dietz was honored Jan. 11 with the lifting of her No. 21 jersey into the rafters at the Crisler Center. Dietz, who competed in Maize and Blue from 1979-82, was the program’s first 2,000-point scorer, a record that stood for more than 30 years. She still ranks fourth all-time in scoring with 2,076 points, a feat she achieved before the addition of the three-point line to the women’s game. Dietz is also second all-time in 30-point games (11) and in field goals made (940) and is only one of two players with at least 900 makes. She graduated as the Wolverines’ all-time leader in steals (229), a mark that currently ranks fourth in program history. Dietz was also a standout in the classroom and is one of only two Michigan student-athletes to have been inducted into the Academic All-America Hall of Fame (2009). The three-time Academic All-American was the first female recipient of the Big Ten Medal of Honor in 1982, which is considered the most prestigious honor a Big Ten student-athlete can receive. Dietz was inducted into the Michigan Athletics Hall of Fame in 1996 and is a member of the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame after her induction in 2019.
• The 2025-26 season will be the final ride for storied Northwestern head coach Joe McKeown, who announced on March 24 that he intends to retire at the conclusion of season. McKeown is the longest-tenured and winningest head women’s basketball coach in Northwestern history. This is his 18th season in Evanston and his 40th season overall as a head coach.
• Each Big Ten institution played an 18-game conference schedule for the seventh time in eight seasons. During the conference season, each program played one school both home and away, while facing 16 teams once. Of the single-play opponents, institutions faced eight at home and eight on the road.