Just one game remains on the 2026 regular season schedule for the Penn State Nittany Lions field hockey team after their eight-game win streak came to an end on Sunday in Iowa City against the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Penn State's first two penalty corner opportunities of the contest both came with under a minute to go, but the Nittany Lions were unable to convert on either, and Iowa handed them their first shutout loss of the season.
The defeat knocked the Nittany Lions out of contention for a share of the Big Ten regular season championship and for the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament.
Northwestern is locked into the No. 1 seed, with Maryland being the only team within one game of the Wildcats and Northwestern holding the head-to-head tiebreaker, while Maryland is locked into the No. 2 seed, since Penn State is the only team within one game behind the Terps and Maryland holds the head-to-head tiebreaker.
The No. 7 and final seed is also guaranteed to go to the winner of the Ohio State vs. Michigan game, so there are only three games that can affect the seeding from No. 3 to No. 6: Indiana vs. Rutgers, Iowa vs. Maryland, and Northwestern vs. Penn State.
First and foremost, Penn State can no longer fall to lower than the No. 5 seed after Sunday, since the loser of the Indiana vs. Rutgers game is guaranteed to have four losses.
Despite the fact that Indiana, Rutgers, and Iowa could all fall to the No. 6 seed while Penn State cannot, there is a mathematical possibility that any one of those three teams could square off against Penn State in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament.
There are eight different potential outcomes for the three remaining impactful regular season games, although one of those outcomes must be broken down further since the seeding would depend on whether some (or all, or none) of the games are decided in overtime.
Let's take a look at which scenarios result in Penn State being matched up against each of these three opponents.
Penn State vs. Iowa
There are four potential outcomes that would result in this matchup, although a fifth is possible under two different scenarios; we'll get into that one later on, since that one involves a three-way tie for which the tiebreaker is still TBD.
Penn State beats Northwestern, Maryland beats Iowa, Indiana beats Rutgers
Result: Penn State gets the No. 3 seed at 6-2, Indiana gets the No. 4 seed at 5-3, Rutgers gets the No. 5 seed on the head-to-head tiebreaker over Iowa at 4-4, and Iowa gets the No. 6 seed
Matchup: No. 3 Penn State vs. No. 6 Iowa
Penn State beats Northwestern, Maryland beats Iowa, Rutgers beats Indiana
Result: Penn State gets the No. 3 seed at 6-2, Rutgers gets the No. 4 seed at 5-3, Indiana gets the No. 5 seed on the head-to-head tiebreaker over Iowa at 4-4, and Iowa gets the No. 6 seed
Matchup: No. 3 Penn State vs. No. 6 Iowa
Northwestern beats Penn State, Maryland beats Iowa, Indiana beats Rutgers
Result: Penn State gets the No. 3 seed on the head-to-head tiebreaker over Indiana at 5-3, Indiana gets the No. 4 seed, Rutgers gets the No. 5 seed on the head-to-head tiebreaker over Iowa at 4-4, and Iowa gets the No. 6 seed
Matchup: No. 3 Penn State vs. No. 6 Iowa
Northwestern beats Penn State, Maryland beats Iowa, Rutgers beats Indiana
Result: Penn State gets the No. 3 seed on the head-to-head tiebreaker over Rutgers at 5-3, Rutgers gets the No. 4 seed, Indiana gets the No. 5 seed on the head-to-head tiebreaker over Iowa at 4-4, and Iowa gets the No. 6 seed
Matchup: No. 3 Penn State vs. No. 6 Iowa
Penn State vs. Rutgers
There are two potential outcomes that would result in this matchup.
Penn State beats Northwestern, Iowa beats Maryland, Indiana beats Rutgers
Result: Penn State gets the No. 3 seed at 6-2, Indiana gets the No. 4 seed on the head-to-head tiebreaker over Iowa at 5-3, Iowa gets the No. 5 seed, and Rutgers gets the No. 6 seed at 4-4
Matchup: No. 3 Penn State vs. No. 6 Rutgers
Northwestern beats Penn State, Iowa beats Maryland, Rutgers beats Indiana
Here's where one of the complicated tiebreakers comes in.
When it comes to ties in the standings, the first tiebreaker, as we've already implied, is head-to-head. But in a three-way tie, where Team A beat Team B, Team B beat Team C, and Team C beat Team A, the Big Ten's tiebreaker parameters state that the next tiebreaker is conference regulation and overtime point total.
Awarded points include "3 points for a win in regulation, 2 points for an overtime win, 1 point for an overtime loss, 0 points for a loss in regulation".
Here's how these four teams stack up in terms of conference points totals.
Big Ten rank | Team | Record | Win | OT Win | OT Loss | Loss | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
3 | Penn State | 5-2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 13 |
4 | Indiana | 4-3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 12 |
5 | Rutgers | 4-3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
6 | Iowa | 4-3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 12 |
So let's get back to our present scenario.
Result: Penn State, Iowa, and Rutgers tie at 5-3; Indiana gets the No. 6 seed at 4-4. Penn State beat Rutgers, Rutgers beat Iowa, and Iowa beat Penn State, so conference points would be used to break the three-way tie. And regardless of which games are decided in regulation and which are decided in overtime, this tiebreaker is already predetermined.
The Big Ten's tiebreaker parameters state that "Ties shall be considered separated when a team(s) emerges from the top, middle, or bottom of the group and is awarded a seed(s)", and "Once a seed (or seeds) is awarded, all remaining tied teams shall restart the tiebreak process at the first criteria."
Iowa would be guaranteed to finish with more conference points than Rutgers, and they'd be awarded the head-to-head tiebreaker over Penn State even if they both finish with 14. If they don't both finish with 14, Penn State could potentially tie Rutgers at 13, in which case Iowa would lead the group with either 14 or 15, and Penn State would still own the head-to-head tiebreaker over Rutgers.
So regardless of who ends up separating from the group, Iowa would get the No. 3 seed, Penn State would get the No. 4 seed, and Rutgers would get the No. 5 seed.
Matchup: No. 4 Penn State vs. No. 5 Rutgers
Penn State vs. Indiana
There is one potential outcome that would result in this matchup, although a second is possible under two different scenarios; as we referenced about the fifth Penn State vs. Iowa possibility, we'll get into this one later on as well, since that one involves a three-way tie for which the tiebreaker is still TBD.
Penn State beats Northwestern, Iowa beats Maryland, Rutgers beats Indiana
Result: Penn State gets the No. 3 seed at 6-2, Rutgers gets the No. 4 seed on the head-to-head tiebreaker over Iowa at 5-3, Iowa gets the No. 5 seed, and Indiana gets the No. 6 seed at 4-4
Matchup: No. 3 Penn State vs. No. 6 Indiana
If you've been counting, that's seven of our eight possible scenarios. The eighth scenario involves a three-way tie for which the tiebreaker remains TBD, depending on which games (if any) are decided in overtime.
Penn State would face either Iowa or Indiana under this scenario. Let's break it down.
Northwestern beats Penn State, Iowa beats Maryland, Indiana beats Rutgers
Result: Penn State, Iowa, and Indiana tie at 5-3; Rutgers gets the No. 6 seed at 4-4. Penn State beat Indiana, Indiana beat Iowa, and Iowa beat Penn State, so conference points would be used to break the three-way tie.
Indiana and Iowa would be guaranteed either 14 points (with an overtime win) or 15 (with a regulation win) under this scenario, whereas Penn State would finish with either 13 (with a regulation loss) or 14 (with an overtime loss).
Importantly, Penn State would not win this tiebreaker, so they'd be locked into the No. 4 vs. No. 5 game.
If Iowa finishes ahead of Indiana in points (meaning Iowa wins in regulation while Indiana wins in overtime), Iowa would be awarded the No. 3 seed. If Penn State and Indiana are tied with 14 points, Penn State would then be awarded the No. 4 seed on the head-to-head tiebreaker over Indiana, and Indiana would be awarded the No. 5 seed.
Matchup: No. 4 Penn State vs. No. 5 Indiana
If Penn State has 13 points to Indiana's 14, the seeds would simply be flipped. This would not require the tiebreak process to restart at the first (head-to-head) criteria, since one team would have emerged at the top (Iowa), middle (Indiana), and bottom (Penn State) of this particular tiebreaker.
Matchup: No. 4 Indiana vs. No. 5 Penn State
But if Indiana finishes ahead of Iowa in points (meaning Indiana wins in regulation while Iowa wins in overtime), Indiana would be awarded the No. 3 seed. Iowa would then be awarded the No. 4 seed over Penn State if they have more points (14 to 13) or the same number of points (14 to 14), since Iowa owns the head-to-head tiebreaker, and Penn State would be awarded the No. 5 seed.
Matchup: No. 4 Iowa vs. No. 5 Penn State
If Indiana and Iowa both finish ahead of Penn State with either 14 points to Penn State's 13, or 15 to Penn State's 13 or 14, Indiana would be awarded the No. 3 seed on the head-to-head tiebreaker over Iowa. Iowa would then be awarded the No. 4 seed over Penn State. Not only did Iowa beat Penn State head-to-head, but Penn State would have already been separated by emerging at the bottom of the group. Penn State would be awarded the No. 5 seed.
Matchup: No. 4 Iowa vs. No. 5 Penn State
Now let's make things even more complicated, because that's what we do here.
What if they all tie in conference points?
Imagine if Indiana and Iowa both win in overtime, while Penn State loses in overtime. All three would be tied with 14 points.
The next tiebreaker?
"Point total vs. remaining teams in tie (3 points for a win in regulation, 2 points for an overtime win, 1 point for an overtime loss, 0 points for a loss in regulation)."
This would solve absolutely nothing, since the 1-1 records of Penn State, Iowa, and Indiana among themselves were all determined in regulation contests. So all three teams have 3 points against one another.
The next tiebreaker?
"The records versus each Conference team not among the tied teams, in order of Conference finish."
This one actually would solve something.
None of the three teams would have beaten Northwestern, the top team in the Big Ten. But Iowa would have beaten Maryland, the No. 2 team in the Big Ten, whereas Penn State and Indiana did not. As a result, Iowa would be awarded the No. 3 seed. Penn State would then be awarded the No. 4 seed on the head-to-head tiebreaker over Indiana, and Indiana would be awarded the No. 5 seed.
Matchup: No. 4 Penn State vs. No. 5 Indiana
Thank goodness we don't have to get into the next few tiebreakers, which include "Goal differential between the teams that are tied (goals for versus goals against)", "Conference goal differential with a maximum difference of three, plus or minus", "Goal differential against Conference teams in descending order", and then "The highest overall RPI ranking on the final Sunday of the regular season amongst tied teams".
For now, it's all about this coming Friday, October 30. B1G+ is set to provide live coverage of all three games (four including Ohio State vs. Michigan), starting with Indiana vs. Rutgers at 12:00 p.m. ET. Iowa vs. Maryland is set to begin at 1:00 p.m. ET, Northwestern vs. Penn State is set to begin at 2:00 p.m. ET, and the Ohio State vs. Michigan battle for the No. 7 seed is set to begin at 5:00 p.m. ET.
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