The 2026–27 Big Ten women's basketball season will begin with practices in October 2026, followed by the start of the 2026–27 NCAA Division I women's basketball season in November 2026. The regular season will end in March of 2027.
The season will be the conference's third with 18 teams. The conference announced that all teams will play 18 regular season conference games with each school playing one school both home and away, while facing 16 teams once.
Head coaches Coaching changes Northwestern On March 24, 2025, Joe McKeown announced he would retire following the conclusion of the 2025–26 season, after 18 years as head coach. On March 25, 2026, Carla Berube was named McKeown's successor.
Penn State On March 5, 2026, Carolyn Kieger was fired after seven years as head coach. On March 19, 2026, Tanisha Wright was named Kieger's successor.
Rutgers On March 2, 2026, Coquese Washington was fired after four years as head coach. On March 9, 2026, Gary Redus II was named Washington's successor.
Coaches Team Head coach Previous job Years at school Overall record Big Ten record Big Ten titles Big Ten Tournament titles NCAA Tournaments NCAA Final Fours NCAA ChampionshipsIllinois Dayton 5 85–47 39–33 0 0 3 0 0Indiana Teri Moren Indiana State 13 264–126 130–80 1 0 7 0 0Iowa Jan Jensen Iowa (Assoc.) 3 50–18 25–11 0 0 2 0 0Maryland Brenda Frese Minnesota 25 631–178 170–41* 6 5 22 3 1Michigan Kim Barnes Arico St. John's (Asst.) 15 312–151 144–94 0 0 9 0 0Michigan State Robyn Fralick Bowling Green 4 67–28 34–20 0 0 3 0 0Minnesota Dawn Plitzuweit West Virginia 4 69–36 26–28 0 0 1 0 0Nebraska Amy Williams South Dakota 11 175–136 86–91 0 0 5 0 0Northwestern Carla Berube Princeton 1 0–0 0–0 0 0 0 0 0Ohio State Kevin McGuff Washington 14 251–117 129–67 4 1 9 0 0Oregon Kelly Graves Gonzaga 13 264–136 18–18 0 0 7 0 0Penn State Tanisha Wright Chicago Sky (Asst.) 1 0–0 0–0 0 0 0 0 0Purdue Katie Gearlds Marian 6 74–81 29–60 0 0 1 0 0Rutgers Gary Redus II LSU (Asst.) 1 0–0 0–0 0 0 0 0 0UCLA Cori Close Florida State (Assoc.) 16 358–144 34–2 1 2 10 2 1USC Lindsay Gottlieb Cleveland Cavaliers (Asst.) 6 111–49 26–10 1 0 4 0 0Washington Tina Langley Rice 6 83–71 19–17 0 0 1 0 0Wisconsin Robin Pingeton Missouri 2 16–18 5–13 0 0 0 0 0 Notes: All records, appearances, titles, etc. are from time with current school only. Year at school includes 2025–26 season. Overall and Big Ten records are from time at current school and are through the beginning of the season. Frese's ACC conference record excluded since Maryland began Big Ten Conference play in 2014–15.
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