On Tuesday in Omaha, the Big Ten baseball tournament gets underway.
While the Big Ten is projected to see four teams get into the field of 64, the conference might have the top-overall seed in the UCLA Bruins. UCLA finished the year with a 48-6 record overall, and is the first team in the history of the rankings at D1Baseball.com to go wire-to-wire in the No. 1 spot.
But with Oregon, Nebraska, and USC also expected to earn spots in the field of 64 — and Michigan and Purdue fighting for their tournament lives this week — there are several reasons to keep an eye on this tournament.
Here is everything you need to know about the 2026 Big Ten baseball tournament.
What is the format for the Big Ten baseball tournament?
Unlike the ACC baseball tournament, which flipped to a single-eliminaton format for the 2025 season, the Big Ten tournament consists of both a double-elimination portion, and a single-elimination portion.
At the outset, only 12 teams qualified for the Big Ten baseball tournament. Minnesota, Indiana, Maryland, Penn State, and Northwestern will be watching along with the rest of us.
Teams seeded No. 5 through No. 12 — Purdue, Ohio State, Michigan, Iowa, Illinois, Rutgers, Washington, and Michigan State — will play a double-elimination tournament with those eight teams split into two brackets of four teams each. Purdue, Michigan State, Iowa, and Illinois are in one while Michigan, Rutgers, Ohio State, and Washington are in the other.
This double-elimination portion will determine the four “qualifiers” for the single-elimination portion. That is when the top four seeds (UCLA, Nebraska, Oregon, and USC) join the fun, for the single elimination portion.
What are the seeds and records for the Big Ten baseball tournament?
Here is how the teams are seeded, along with their regular season and Big Ten records:
1. UCLA (48-6, 28-2 Big Ten)
2. Nebraska (41-14, 23-7 Big Ten)
3. Oregon (38-15, 20-10 Big Ten)
4. USC (42-14, 20-10 Big Ten)
5. Purdue (35-18, 18-12 Big Ten)
6. Ohio State (29-23, 18-12 Big Ten)
7. Michigan (32-22, 17-13 Big Ten)
8. Iowa (32-21, 15-15 Big Ten)
9. Illinois (28-25, 14-16 Big Ten)
10. Rutgers (26-28, 13-17 Big Ten)
11. Washington (23-31, 12-18 Big Ten)
12. Michigan State (22-31, 11-19 Big Ten)
What is the bracket for the Big Ten baseball tournament?
Here is the bracket for the Big Ten tournament, courtesy of the conference:
As noted above, this tournament features both a double-elimination stage, as well as a single-elimination stage. Teams seeded No. 5 through No. 12 participate in the double-elimination stage, leading to the four qualifiers who advance to the single-elimination stage.
Who are the favorites in the Big Ten baseball tournament?
We start with the Bruins.
UCLA rolled through its schedule, losing just two games in the Big Ten and six overall. The Bruins won all 14 of their weekend series this season, and the team’s 48 wins set a new program record. Not only did the Bruins win every regular-season series this year, but they were the only program in the nation to take at least two of three games over each weekend series.
Leading the Bruins is shortstop Roch Cholowsky, widely considered the top prospect in this year’s MLB Draft. After slashing .353/.480/.710 during the 2025 season, Cholowsky posted a slash line of .330/.465/.684, while belting 21 home runs. But a big key for UCLA’s season has been the development of Will Gasparino into a true two-way threat. Gasparino was considered one of the best defensive outfielders in the nation, but the transfer from Texas had his best season at the dish for UCLA, slashing .305/.405/.645, all career-high numbers. Add in ace Logan Reddemann and top-flight starter Wylan Moss on the bump, and you have a team built to be the top seed in the nation.
Oregon and Nebraska are both teams that could be hosting regionals come Selection Monday. The Cornhuskers finished second in the Big Ten, and while they did not face the Bruins during the regular season, they finished the year on a seven-game winning streak. In addition, this Nebraska team ended the year with 41 wins, including 23 in the Big Ten, the most conference wins in school history. And this senior-heavy team has enjoyed success before, as the Cornhuskers won the last two Big Ten tournaments.
And they’ll be playing close to home.
As for Oregon, the Ducks are one of just two teams from the Big Ten to beat UCLA this year, the other being Washington just a few days ago. And Oregon is coming off a dramatic win against USC in extra innings, using a squeeze bunt from catcher Burke-Lee Mabeus in the bottom of the 14th to knock off USC 6-5:
Mabeus was also named a semifinalist for the Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award on Monday, the first Oregon catcher to be named a semifinalist for the award. He finished the regular season with a slash line of .313/.411/.556, and threw out 10 of the 23 attempted base stealers he saw this year.
Big Ten baseball tournament schedule and scores
Here is the schedule for the 2026 Big Ten baseball Tournament. All games are in Omaha, and the lower-seeded team will be the visiting team in each game.
Game 1: No. 12 Michigan State 8, No. 5 Purdue 4
Game 2: No. 8 Iowa vs. No. 9 Illinois, 2:00 p.m. Eastern
Game 3: No. 7 Michigan vs. No. 10 Rutgers, 6:00 p.m. Eastern
Game 4: No. 6 Ohio State vs. No. 11 Washington, 10:00 p.m. Eastern
Game 5: No. 5 Purdue vs. Game 2 Loser, 10:00 a.m. Eastern (Loser eliminated)
Game 6: Game 3 Loser vs. Game 4 Loser, 2:00 p.m. Eastern (Loser eliminated)
Game 7: No. 12 Michigan State vs. Game 2 Winner, 6:00 p.m Eastern (Winner is Qualifier 1)
Game 8: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner, 10:00 p.m. Eastern (Winner is Qualifier 2)
Game 9: Game 5 Winner vs. Game 7 Loser, 3:00 p.m. Eastern (Loser eliminated, Winner is Qualifier 3)
Game 10: Game 6 Winner vs. Game 8 Loser, 7:00 p.m. Eastern (Loser eliminated, Winner is Qualifier 4)
Friday, May 22 – Single-elimination Bracket
Game 11: No. 4 USC vs. Game 7 Winner/Qualifier 1, 10:00 a.m. Eastern
Game 12: No. 1 UCLA vs. Game 9 Winner/Qualifier 3, 2:00 p.m. Eastern
Game 13: No. 2 Nebraska vs. Game 10 Winner/Qualifier 4, 6:00 p.m. Eastern
Game 14: No. 3 Oregon vs. Game 8 Winner/Qualifier 2, 10:00 p.m. Eastern
Game 15: Game 11 Winner vs. Game 12 Winner, 3:00 p.m. Eastern
Game 16: Game 13 Winner vs. Game 14 Winner, 7:00 p.m. Eastern
Sunday, May 24 – Championship
Game 17: Game 15 Winner vs. Game 16 Winner, 3:00 p.m. Eastern
