The Big Ten tournament starts tomorrow.
Northwestern holds the Big Ten tournament’s top seed, but Maryland has reclaimed the national No. 1 ranking.
The Wildcats enter the postseason ranked No. 2 in the National Field Hockey Coaches Association’s Week 10 poll, with a 16-2 overall record and a 7-1 Big Ten mark. They shared the regular-season conference title with Maryland but won the head-to-head tiebreaker for the top seed.
Penn State spoiled their bid for an unbeaten conference season with a 2-0 shutout upset in the regular-season finale on Oct. 30. It was Northwestern’s first Big Ten loss, not its first loss overall.
The national crown has changed hands, too. Maryland climbed back to No. 1 in the NFHCA Week 10 poll released November 3.
The Terrapins climbed to No. 2 in Week 4 while still undefeated, just behind Northwestern. In Week 7, the shift came:
Maryland took the No. 1 spot after Northwestern’s unbeaten start ended with a 2-1 overtime loss at Princeton. In Week 9, Northwestern reclaimed No. 1 after beating Maryland 4-2 on October 22, ending the Terrapins’ unbeaten run.
Behind the two co-champions in the tournament bracket is Penn State, which shook off a slow start to earn its first Big Ten tournament appearance since 2023 with a 6-2 conference record.
This year, the Big Ten tournament will take place at Ohio State’s Buckeye Varsity Field in Columbus, Ohio, from November 4 to November 8. The conference tournament winner will earn an automatic berth in the NCAA Division I tournament, while other Big Ten teams can compete for at-large bids.
Female Athlete News is currently focusing on conferences with teams ranked by the NFHCA throughout the Division I season. Ten conferences receive one automatic NCAA tournament bid apiece, with eight at-large bids completing the 18-team field.
Here are the Big Ten tournament qualifiers in descending seed order — not national rankings — and their matchups (all times Eastern):
No. 7 Ohio State, 7-10 overall (2-6 conference)
No. 6 Iowa, 12-4 overall (4-4 conference)
No. 5 Indiana, 9-7 overall (4-4 conference)
No. 4 Rutgers, 11-7 overall (5-3 conference)
No. 3 Penn State, 12-5 overall (6-2 conference)
No. 2 Maryland, 16-1 overall (7-1 conference)
No. 1 Northwestern, 16-2 overall (7-1 conference)
Game 1 - November 4, 11 a.m.
Rutgers vs Indiana
Game 2 - November 4, 2 p.m.
Maryland vs Ohio State
Game 3 - November 4, 5 p.m.
Penn State vs Iowa
Semifinals - November 6, 1 p.m.
Northwestern vs Winner of Game 1
*Simmie Samra is a student-intern at Penn State University.
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