The Big Ten is one of the most prestigious volleyball conferences in the nation.
Over the last 20 years, Big Ten programs have won 10 NCAA volleyball national championships, while nine of the conference teams received a 2025 tournament bid and eight occupy a spot in the current AVCA rankings released Monday.
Indiana volleyball finished fifth in the 2025 Big Ten standings — behind Nebraska, Wisconsin, Purdue and USC — marking its best conference placement since 1999, when the Hoosiers tied for fifth.
This season, the Hoosiers look to improve upon their conference placing last season and make another NCAA Tournament run; however, competing against Big Ten teams will once again be a difficult task.
Before Indiana’s Big Ten slate begins against UCLA on Sept. 24 in Bloomington, here is a deep dive into some of the Hoosiers’ biggest competition in the conference.
Nebraska and Wisconsin
Since 2019, either Nebraska or Wisconsin has won the Big Ten or been a co-conference champion. The Cornhuskers and the Badgers came in first and second place, respectively, in the league last season, as Nebraska held a 20-0 Big Ten record, and Wisconsin went 17-3 in the conference.
No. 1 Nebraska was undefeated last season until Texas A&M University, the eventual national champions, defeated the Cornhuskers in the NCAA Tournament regional final. As of Monday, Nebraska is undefeated in nonconference play once again, with six wins over ranked opponents. The Cornhuskers retained many of their key contributors from last season, including senior setter Bergen Reilly, senior middle blocker Andi Jackson and senior outside hitter Harper Murray, each of whom were first team All-Americans in 2025.
While No. 6 Wisconsin holds a 6-4 record ahead of conference play, it’s still one of the best teams in the conference and NCAA. All its losses were to top-five opponents, but the Badgers also have three ranked wins ahead of Big Ten play. Wisconsin’s two best players from last season, outside hitter Mimi Colyer and middle blocker Carter Booth, graduated; however, the Badgers have a strong freshman class to supplement the losses.
Minnesota, Oregon, Penn State, Purdue, UCLA and USC
Six teams are slated to be in the mix as Indiana’s biggest competition in the Big Ten this season — No. 10 Purdue, No. 14 Penn State, No. 15 Minnesota, No. 20 Oregon, No. 23 USC and UCLA, which received votes in the most recent rankings.
Purdue finished the 2025 season at third in the conference standings behind Nebraska and Wisconsin. The Boilermakers are 7-2 despite being without All-American Kenna Wollard. The senior outside hitter announced in an Instagram post Aug. 27 that she’s “dealing with an unexpected health issue.”
UCLA and Penn State have nine and eight nonconference wins, respectively. The Lady Lions’ tie for sixth place finish in the Big Ten in 2025 was their worst since 2021, but they’re looking to return to the top of the league this season. UCLA’s two losses this season were to ranked teams, but the Bruins have dropped just four sets in their eight wins so far.
Like much of the Big Ten, USC has had a difficult nonconference schedule. The Trojans have played four ranked teams so far this season, with just one win — a sweep over then-No. 12 Arizona State University — and three losses against those programs. They’re 6-4 overall.
Minnesota fifth-year outside hitter Mckenna Wucherer averages 5.21 kills per set through eight matches this season, which leads the Big Ten. The Golden Gophers have one ranked win — against then-No. 13 Creighton University — and two ranked losses ahead of their conference schedule.
Oregon is the only team in this group to not make the NCAA Tournament a season ago, but 2025 was the Ducks’ first missed appearance since 2019. They’ve returned a majority of their 2026 roster, adding four freshmen and four transfers to bolster thethe team.
Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern and Washington
While the top eight teams in the league are ranked or received votes in the AVCA poll, this middle group of six has the potential to cause problems for Indiana.
Alongside Nebraska, Michigan State and Washington are the only other undefeated teams in the conference, with 10 and nine wins, respectively. Both squads were both picked to finish in the bottom half of the Big Ten before the season but finished their nonconference slates without a loss. Both teams received votes in the AVCA poll.
Michigan junior outside hitter Ella Demetrician’s 165 total kills leads the Big Ten, while her teammate junior opposite hitter Cymarah Gordon ranks fifth in the conference with 142 kills. The Wolverines are the only team in this group to make the NCAA Tournament last season. They defeated No. 8-seeded Xavier University in the first round but were swept by No. 1-seeded University of Pittsburgh.
Iowa has 10 wins, while Illinois has eight and Northwestern owns seven. However, Iowa and Northwestern haven’t played a ranked opponent yet, while Illinois has faced one. The Fighting Illini were swept by then-No. 22 Tennessee on Sept. 1.
Maryland, Ohio State and Rutgers
These three teams had just seven combined Big Ten wins last season and were picked to occupy the bottom spots in the 2026 Big Ten preseason poll.
Maryland is 10-1 ahead of its conference schedule, with its lone loss to Vanderbilt University on Sept. 1. Since then, the Terrapins have dropped just one set.
Rutgers and Ohio State both have three nonconference losses. The Scarlet Knights and the Buckeyes rank 16th and 17th, respectively, in kills per set in the Big Ten. Both marks are only higher than USC.
Follow reporters Savannah Slone (@savrivers06 and srslone@iu.edu) and Kasey Watkins (@KaseyWatki87731 and kaslwatk@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana volleyball season.
