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. 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.
YearRegular season championConference Tournament ChampionNational ChampionshipNotes 1982 – Northwestern Big Ten softball tournament only. Teams from Indiana, Iowa, Michigan,Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, and Ohio State participate. 1983 Indiana – Tournament eliminated, first regular season of conference play., , , ,, , and compete. 1984 Northwestern – 1985 Northwestern – 1986 IndianaMinnesotaNorthwestern – 1987 Northwestern – 1988 Minnesota – 1989 Iowa – 1990 IowaOhio State – 1991 Minnesota – 1992 Michigan – begins league play. 1993 Michigan – 1994 Indiana – 1995 Michigan Michigan Conference tournament resumes in double-elimination format. begins league play. 1996 Michigan Michigan begins league play. 1997 Iowa Michigan 1998 Michigan Michigan 1999 Michigan Minnesota 2000 Iowa Michigan 2001 Michigan Iowa begins league play. 2002 Michigan Michigan 2003 Iowa Iowa 2004 Michigan Michigan State 2005 Michigan Michigan Michigan First (and to-date only) Big Ten softball National Champion 2006 Northwestern Michigan 2007 Ohio State Ohio State 2008 MichiganNorthwestern Northwestern 2009 Michigan – Conference tournament eliminated again. 2010 Michigan – 2011 Michigan – 2012 Michigan – begins league play. 2013 Michigan Wisconsin Conference tournament resumes in single-elimination format. 2014 MichiganNebraska Minnesota 2015 Michigan Michigan and begin league play. 2016 Michigan Minnesota 2017 Minnesota Minnesota 2018 Michigan Minnesota 2019 Michigan Michigan 2020 Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic 2021 Michigan – Conference tournament canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. 2022 Northwestern Nebraska 2023 Northwestern Northwestern 2024 Northwestern Michigan 2025 Oregon Michigan , , and begin league play.
Championships by school School Big TenChampionshipsReg. Season/Tournament Regular seasonChampionships TournamentChampionships Illinois 0/0 Indiana 3/0 1983, 1986*, 1994 Iowa 5/2 1989, 1990*, 1997, 2000, 2003 2001, 2003 Maryland 0/0 Michigan 22/12 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, 2024, 2025 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 Oregon 1/0 2025 Penn State 0/0 Purdue 0/0 Rutgers 0/0 UCLA 0/0 Washington 0/0 Wisconsin 0/1 2013
An asterisk (*) indicates a shared (regular season) Big Ten championship.
See also List of Big Ten Conference baseball champions
References