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

Championships by school

School Big Ten
Championships
Reg. Season/Tournament		 Regular Season
Championships		 Tournament
Championships
Illinois 0/0
Indiana 3/0 1983, 1986*, 1994
Iowa 5/2 1989, 1990*, 1997, 2000, 2003 2001, 2003
Maryland 0/0
Michigan 22/10 1992, 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 0/1 2004
Minnesota 4/5 1986*, 1988, 1991, 2017 1999, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018
Nebraska 1/1 2014 2022
Northwestern 8/3 1984, 1985, 1986*, 1987, 2006, 2008*, 2022, 2023 1982, 2008, 2023
Ohio State 2/1 1990*, 2007 2007
Penn State 0/0
Purdue 0/0
Rutgers 0/0
Wisconsin 0/1 2013

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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