The Big Ten Conference has been playing baseball since 1896. From 1896 to 1980 the conference champion was determined by the team or teams with the best record. In 1981 the Big Ten Conference baseball tournament was established to decide its champion. The conference also split the 10 schools into two divisions: East and West. In 1988 the conference went back to a single division but still used the tournament to determine the champion. In 1993 the conference returned to using the regular season to name its champion while the team that wins the tournament receives the automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship.
Champions This list is of the official Big Ten champions based on standings, the system used from 1896 to 1980 and from 1993 to the present. (From 1981 to 1992, the champion was determined by the conference tournament.)
YearChampionNational ChampionshipNotes 1896 Chicago Only , , , and compete. 1897 Chicago 1898 Chicago First season competed. 1899 Michigan 1900 Illinois 1901 Michigan 1902 Wisconsin 1903 Illinois 1904 Illinois 1905 Michigan 1906 Illinois First season , , , and competed. 1907 Illinois 1908 Illinois 1909 Purdue 1910 Illinois 1911 Illinois 1912 Wisconsin 1913 Chicago First season competed. 1914 Illinois 1915 Illinois 1916 Illinois 1917 Ohio State 1918 Michigan 1919 Michigan 1920 Michigan 1921 Illinois 1922 Illinois 1923 Michigan 1924 Michigan Ohio State 1925 Indiana 1926 Michigan 1927 Illinois Iowa 1928 Michigan 1929 Michigan 1930 Wisconsin 1931 Illinois 1932 Indiana 1933 Minnesota 1934 Illinois 1935 Minnesota 1936 Michigan 1937 Illinois 1938 Indiana Iowa 1939 Iowa 1940 Illinois Northwestern 1941 Michigan 1942 Iowa Michigan 1943 Ohio State 1944 Michigan 1945 Michigan 1946 Wisconsin Last season Chicago competed. 1947 Illinois Tie games began counting as 1/2 a win and 1/2 a loss. 1948 Illinois Michigan 1949 Indiana Iowa Michigan 1950 Michigan Wisconsin 1951 Ohio State First season competed. 1952 Illinois Michigan 1953 Illinois Michigan Michigan 1954 Michigan State 1955 Ohio State 1956 Minnesota Minnesota 1957 Northwestern 1958 Minnesota 1959 Minnesota 1960 Minnesota Minnesota 1961 Michigan 1962 Illinois Michigan 1963 Illinois 1964 Minnesota Minnesota 1965 Ohio State 1966 Ohio State Ohio State 1967 Ohio State 1968 Minnesota 1969 Minnesota 1970 Minnesota 1971 Michigan State 1972 Iowa 1973 Minnesota 1974 Minnesota Iowa 1975 Michigan 1976 Michigan 1977 Minnesota 1978 Michigan 1979 Michigan State 1980 Michigan 1981 Michigan Big Ten tournament winner declared conference champion. 1982 Minnesota 1983 Michigan 1984 Michigan 1985 Minnesota 1986 Michigan 1987 Michigan 1988 Minnesota 1989 Illinois 1990 Illinois 1991 Ohio State Last season Wisconsin competed. 1992 Minnesota First season competed. 1993 Ohio State Regular season winner declared conference champion.Big Ten tournament used to determine NCAA automatic qualifier only. 1994 Ohio State 1995 Ohio State 1996 Penn State 1997 Michigan 1998 Illinois 1999 Ohio State 2000 Minnesota 2001 Ohio State 2002 Minnesota 2003 Minnesota 2004 Minnesota 2005 Illinois 2006 Michigan 2007 Michigan 2008 Michigan 2009 Ohio State 2010 Minnesota 2011 Michigan State Illinois 2012 Purdue First season competed. 2013 Indiana 2014 Indiana 2015 Illinois First season and competed. 2016 Minnesota 2017 Nebraska 2018 Minnesota 2019 Indiana 2020 Season cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic2021 Nebraska 2022 Maryland 2023 Maryland 2024 Illinois 2025 Oregon UCLA , , , and will begin league play.2026 UCLA
Championships by school School Big TenChampionships Years Michigan 35 1899, 1901, 1905, 1918, 1919, 1920, 1923, 1924, 1926, 1928, 1929, 1936, 1941, 1942, 1944, 1945, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1961, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1997, 2006, 2007, 2008 Illinois 31 1900, 1903, 1904, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1910, 1911, 1914, 1915, 1916, 1921, 1922, 1927, 1931, 1934, 1937, 1940, 1947, 1948, 1952, 1953, 1962, 1963, 1989, 1990, 1998, 2005, 2011, 2015, 2024 Minnesota24 1933, 1935, 1956, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1973, 1974, 1977, 1982, 1985, 1988, 1992, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2010, 2016, 2018 Ohio State 15 1917, 1924, 1943, 1951, 1955, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1999, 2001, 2009 Iowa 7 1927, 1938, 1939, 1942, 1949, 1972, 1974 Indiana 7 1925, 1932, 1938, 1949, 2013, 2014, 2019 Wisconsin 5 1902, 1912, 1930, 1946, 1950 Chicago 4 1896, 1897, 1898, 1913 Michigan State 4 1954, 1971, 1979, 2011 Maryland 2 2022, 2023 Nebraska 2 2017, 2021 Northwestern 2 1940, 1957 Purdue 2 1909, 2012 UCLA 2 2025, 2026 Oregon 1 2025 Penn State 1 1996 Rutgers 0
Italics indicates a team no longer competing in baseball in the Big Ten.
Bold indicates an outright Big Ten championship.
See also List of Big Ten Conference softball champions
References
Big Ten Baseball Regular Season Standings; Big Ten Conference. June 28, 2018.