CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Big Ten Conference has revealed the full bracket for the 2026 Big Ten Baseball Tournament Presented by IFS.ai, which will be held from May 19-24 at Charles Schwab Field Omaha in Omaha, Neb. Illinois is set to serve as the No. 9 seed at the six-day, 12-team competition.
The Fighting Illini will begin Big Ten Tournament play on Tuesday, May 19, at 1 p.m. CT against No. 8-seeded Iowa. The sides met during the regular season from May 1-3, with the Hawkeyes taking a 2-1 series win in Iowa City, Iowa.
The Big Ten Tournament now features a double-elimination bracket that will see four teams advance to an eight-team single-elimination bracket. Teams seeded 5-12 will compete in the double-elimination bracket, while the top four teams have earned a bye into the single-elimination bracket and will begin their postseason in the quarterfinals on Friday.
Illinois enters postseason play with a 28-25 record and a 14-16 mark in Big Ten play. The Illini are set to make their 15th Big Ten Tournament appearance under head coach Dan Hartleb.
The Big Ten Network will broadcast every game of the tournament. Games will also be available on the FOX Sports App.
Tuesday, May 19
Game 1 (#12 Michigan State at #5 Purdue) – 9 a.m. CT (BTN)
Game 2 (#9 Illinois at #8 Iowa) – 1 p.m. CT (BTN)
Game 3 (#10 Rutgers at #7 Michigan) – 5 p.m. CT (BTN)
Game 4 (#11 Washington at #6 Ohio State) – 9 p.m. CT (BTN)
Wednesday, May 20
Game 5 (Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser) – 9 a.m. CT (BTN)
Game 6 (Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 loser) – 1 p.m. CT (BTN)
Game 7 (Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner) – 5 p.m. CT (BTN)
Game 8 (Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner) – 9 p.m. CT (BTN)
Thursday, May 21
Game 9 (Game 5 winner vs. Game 7 loser) – 2 p.m. CT (BTN)
Game 10 (Game 6 winner vs. Game 8 loser) – 6 p.m. CT (BTN)
Friday, May 22
Game 11 (Game 7 winner at #4 USC) – 9 a.m. CT (BTN)
Game 12 (Game 9 winner at #1 UCLA) – 1 p.m. CT (BTN)
Game 13 (Game 10 winner at #2 Nebraska) – 5 p.m. CT (BTN)
Game 14 (Game 8 winner at #3 Oregon) – 9 p.m. CT (BTN)
Saturday, May 23
Game 15 (Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner) – 2 p.m. CT (BTN)
Game 16 (Game 13 winner vs. Game 14 winner) – 6 p.m. CT (BTN)
Sunday, May 24
Game 17 (Game 15 winner vs. Game 16 winner) – 2 p.m. CT (BTN)
