Story by NU Athletic Communications
ROSEMONT, Ill. – The Big Ten Conference has announced the full 12-team, single-elimination bracket for the 25th Big Ten Softball Tournament, presented by DirecTV that will take place May 8-11 at the University of Iowa’s Bob Pearl Field in Iowa City, Iowa.
Northwestern (33-10, 19-3 Big Ten) is the No. 1 seed for this year’s tournament after earning its 10th Big Ten Championship and third in a row on Sunday. The Wildcats have won three Big Ten Tournament titles (1982, 2008, 2023) and will open this year’s tournament on Thursday with a quarterfinal contest at 11 a.m. (CT) live on the Big Ten Network against the winner of Wednesday’s first-round game between No. 12 Illinois and No. 5 Minnesota.
Michigan (38-16, 17-5) is the No. 2 seed for this year’s Big Ten Tournament. The Wolverines have won a conference-record 10 Big Ten Tournament championships, most recently in 2019. They will open this year’s Big Ten Tournament slate at 4:30 p.m. (CT) Thursday, playing live on the Big Ten Network against the winner of Wednesday’s first-round matchup between tenth-seeded Maryland and No. 7 seed Penn State.
Rutgers (33-21, 14-9) is the No. 3 seed for the Big Ten Tournament, the Scarlet Knights’ highest seed ever as part of their fifth Big Ten Tournament appearance. Rutgers opens postseason play with a quarterfinal matchup against the winner of No. 11 Wisconsin and No. 6 Ohio State on Thursday at 7 p.m. (CT) on Big Ten Network.
Rounding out the top four seeds is Nebraska (29-22,12-9), claiming the last of the tournament byes into the quarterfinal round. Nebraska won its first Big Ten Tournament title in 2022 and will begin its postseason quest Thursday at 1:30 p.m. (CT), playing live on the Big Ten Network against the winner of Wednesday’s first-round matchup between ninth-seeded Purdue and No. 8 seed Indiana.
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 2024 Big Ten Softball Tournament, presented by DirecTV schedule is as follows:
Wednesday, May 8 (First Round)
Game 1 (#9 Purdue vs. #8 Indiana) – 11 a.m. CT (BTN)
Game 2 (#12 Illinois vs. #5 Minnesota) – 1:30 p.m. CT (BTN)
Game 3 (#10 Maryland vs. #7 Penn State) – 4:30 p.m. CT (BTN)
Game 4 (#11 Wisconsin vs. #6 Ohio State) – 7 p.m. CT (BTN)
Thursday, May 9 (Quarterfinal)
Game 5 (#1 Northwestern vs. Game 1 winner) – 11 a.m. CT (BTN)
Game 6 (#4 Nebraska vs. Game 2 winner) – 1:30 p.m. CT (BTN)
Game 7 (#2 Michigan vs. Game 3 winner) – 4:30 p.m. CT (BTN)
Game 8 (#3 Rutgers vs. Game 4 winner) – 7 p.m. CT (BTN)
Friday, May 10 (Semifinals)
Game 9 (Game 5 vs. Game 6 winner) – 4 p.m. CT (BTN)
Game 10 (Game 7 vs. Game 8 winner) – 6:30 p.m. CT (BTN)
Saturday, May 11 (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/sb