The Big Ten Conference has been playing softball since 1982 when the Big Ten Conference softball tournament was established to decide its champion. The Big Ten then began league play the following season in 1983 while eliminating the tournament until 1995. The tournament ran again from 1995 to 2008 and then again from 2013 to present day, which is used to determine the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Softball Championship while the regular season determines the conference champion.

Champions

These are the official Big Ten champions based on standings.[1] 1982 was the only year the conference tournament was used to determine the champion. After that, the regular season determined the champion while the tournament held from 1983 to 1994 and 2009-13 was used only to determine the automatic bid into the NCAA Division I softball tournament.

Year Regular Season Champion Conference Tournament Champion National Championship Notes
1982NorthwesternBig Ten softball tournament only. Teams from Indiana, Iowa, Michigan,
Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, and Ohio State participate.[2]
1983IndianaTournament eliminated, first regular season of conference play.
 Indiana ,  Iowa ,  Michigan ,  Michigan State ,
 Minnesota ,  Northwestern , and  Ohio State  compete.
1984Northwestern
1985Northwestern
1986Indiana
Minnesota
Northwestern
1987Northwestern
1988Minnesota
1989Iowa
1990Iowa
Ohio State
1991Minnesota
1992Michigan Penn State  begins league play.[3]
1993Michigan
1994Indiana
1995MichiganMichiganConference tournament resumes in double-elimination format.
 Purdue  begins league play.[4]
1996MichiganMichigan Wisconsin  begins league play.[5]
1997IowaMichigan
1998MichiganMichigan
1999MichiganMinnesota
2000IowaMichigan
2001MichiganIowa Illinois  begins league play.[6]
2002MichiganMichigan
2003IowaIowa
2004MichiganMichigan State
2005MichiganMichiganMichiganFirst (and to-date only) Big Ten softball National Champion[7]
2006NorthwesternMichiganNorthwestern
(runner-up)
2007Ohio StateOhio State
2008Michigan
Northwestern
Northwestern
2009MichiganConference tournament eliminated again.
2010Michigan
2011Michigan
2012Michigan Nebraska  begins league play.[8]
2013MichiganWisconsinConference tournament resumes in single-elimination format.
2014Michigan
Nebraska
Minnesota
2015MichiganMichigan Maryland  and  Rutgers  begin league play.[9][10]
2016MichiganMinnesota
2017MinnesotaMinnesota
2018MichiganMinnesota
2019MichiganMichigan
2020Season cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic
2021MichiganConference tournament canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
2022NorthwesternNebraska
2023NorthwesternNorthwestern
2024
2025 Oregon ,  UCLA , and  Washington  will begin league play.[11]

Championships by school

SchoolBig Ten
Championships
Reg. Season/Tournament
Regular Season
Championships
Tournament
Championships
Illinois 0/0
Indiana 3/01983, 1986*, 1994
Iowa 5/21989, 1990*, 1997, 2000, 20032001, 2003
Maryland 0/0
Michigan 22/101992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2008*,
2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014*, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2021
1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2015, 2019
Michigan State 0/12004
Minnesota 4/51986*, 1988, 1991, 20171999, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018
Nebraska 1/120142022
Northwestern 8/31984, 1985, 1986*, 1987, 2006, 2008*, 2022, 20231982, 2008, 2023
Ohio State 2/11990*, 20072007
Penn State 0/0
Purdue 0/0
Rutgers 0/0
Wisconsin 0/12013
  • An asterisk (*) indicates a shared (regular season) Big Ten championship.

See also

List of Big Ten Conference baseball champions

References

  1. "Big Ten Softball Regular Season Standings; Big Ten Conference. June 28, 2018" (PDF).
  2. "A Timeline of Significant Moments in Big Ten Women's Athletics; Big Ten Conference. June 28, 2018".
  3. "An Ingenious Inception: Penn State Joins the Big Ten Conference". Archived from the original on 28 March 2007. Retrieved 2007-02-09.
  4. "Team History; PurdueSports.com. June 28, 2018".
  5. "Softball Record Book; UWBadgers.com. June 28, 2018" (PDF).
  6. 2001 "Illinois Softball Statistics Summary for Illinois; FightingIllini.com. June 28, 2018". {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  7. "2005 Women's Division I Softball College World Series Game 16". Ncaa.org. Retrieved 2018-06-08.
  8. "University of Nebraska Approved to Join Big Ten Conference by Council of Presidents/Chancellors". Big Ten Conference. 2010-06-11. Archived from the original on 2010-12-22. Retrieved 2018-06-28.
  9. Barker, Jeff; Korman, Chris (November 19, 2012). "Maryland's application for Big Ten admission approved". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2012-11-19.
  10. "Rutgers University To Join The Big Ten Conference". Archived from the original on 27 November 2012. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
  11. "Big Ten adds Oregon, Washington as newest members in blow to Pac-12". ESPN=en. Retrieved December 2, 2023.
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