Following a couple of non-conference games (Penn State vs. Bucknell, Maryland vs. Princeton) at the beginning of the week, we are officially at the halfway mark of the 2026 NCAA Field Hockey regular season, and conference play within the Big Ten is set to ramp up starting this weekend.
No Big Ten team has played more than two conference games so far, but all nine of them are set to add to their respective tallies every single weekend from now until the end of the regular season in late October.
The top seven teams in the Big Ten standings qualify for the Big Ten Tournament, while the lowest two teams will miss the postseason entirely. How do the nine Big Ten teams stack up ahead of October's loaded slate of conference action?
1. Northwestern Wildcats
You simply can't knock the two-time reigning national champions and consensus No. 1 team in America, even though they have proven to be vulnerable at times and have been forced to battle from behind on more than one occasion this year. Despite a few hiccups, they're still 10-0 for a reason.
Even when All-American Ashley Sessa hasn't been at her best, they have more than enough other contributors capable of stepping up into bigger roles, even following Maddie Zimmer's departure. Just as it was in 2024 and 2025, it's still Northwestern vs. the field, both in the conference and in the country.
2. Maryland Terrapins
Maryland has been one of the surprises of the year so far, sitting at 10-0 through the first five weeks of the season just one year after an early Big Ten Tournament exit and their first season without an NCAA Tournament berth since 2020-21.
Their offense is tied for second in the Big Ten in scoring, and their save percentage trails only that of Northwestern. Whether they can give the Wildcats a run for their money (once, twice, or possibly as many as three times this fall) remains to be seen, but they have earned every bit of their climb from No. 13 to No. 2 in the Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll.
3. Indiana Hoosiers
After an 0-3 start to Big Ten play a year ago, Indiana has gone 6-1 against conference opponents in the regular season. And they've already beaten two of the four teams that beat them a year ago, Iowa and Michigan, in 2026. They did drop a game to Iowa, but because it was the doubleheader game that was not considered a conference game, they officially remain unbeaten in Big Ten play.
Aside from the non-conference Iowa loss, their only other two losses are single-goal road losses to ranked teams. With no additional ranked wins, they're still a sizable distance behind the top two, but make no mistake about it; this team is legit.
4. Iowa Hawkeyes
Iowa has beaten every opponent they've faced so far, so them slotting in at No. 4 speaks more to the depth of the Big Ten than it does anything else. The fact that their loss to Indiana actually counted for the conference standings doesn't help, but a bounce-back performance the next day in the shootout against the Hoosiers and a subsequent sweep of Ohio State shows there's little doubt they're poised for another deep conference tournament run.
They have the top two leading scorers in the Big Ten in Dionne van Aalsum and Frederique van Cleef, who have combined for 25 goals thus far. No other teammate duo in the conference has racked up more than 14. Their No. 3 ranking in the RPI and 4-0 record against ranked teams shows that their offensive prowess has not been a product of an easy schedule. But they may need that offensive firepower to continue, as the defense has, at times, been a bit suspect.
5. Michigan Wolverines
Michigan's early-season upset of North Carolina looks a lot less impressive now than it once did, not just because Michigan has since dropped three games but because of North Carolina's plummet from No. 2 in the country to out of the rankings at one point. The Wolverines do possess a Big Ten win, but it was a narrow 2-1 victory over Michigan State, the last-place finisher in the standings in both 2024 and 2025.
They've only allowed seven goals all year, but they've only faced 22 shots on goal. Just as it was in the shutout loss against Indiana, it's hard to imagine the defense won't be tested to an even greater extent as the Big Ten slate heats up.
6. Ohio State Buckeyes
I have to give Ohio State the slight edge over Penn State here for now, due to the victory over common opponent Virginia, which beat Penn State in overtime in Happy Valley. But with three straight losses, including two to Iowa, entering a crucial portion of Big Ten play, Ohio State has to be considered one of the teams most at risk of missing the postseason when it's all decided.
The offense hasn't found a true No. 1 scorer since Makenna Webster's departure, and despite having faced the third-easiest schedule among Big Ten teams, the defense ranks second worst in the conference in goals allowed.
7. Penn State Nittany Lions
Penn State is looking to avoid their third straight postseason miss in year number one under head coach Hannah Prince, and strong performances in all four of their ranked games thus far, including three against teams ranked inside the top five, have provided plenty of reason for optimism.
The offense is significantly more balanced and efficient than it was a year ago, and the defense has done a much better job at limiting opponents' scoring opportunities. That said, they are going to need to close the deal against a top team at some point, and for a team that hasn't earned a comeback victory since 2024, they need to get off to faster starts and cannot afford a long wait for that true signature victory.
8. Rutgers Scarlet Knights
Rutgers does have a ranked win, unlike Penn State, but against common opponents Princeton, Virginia, Monmouth, and Maryland, Penn State has been more competitive in every single game, even though all four resulted in losses for both schools.
This Friday afternoon's game between the two in Piscataway, despite being only the second Big Ten game on this year's schedule for both teams, could prove to be absolutely massive when it comes to qualifying for the conference tournament, a tournament the Scarlet Knights have not missed since 2015.
9. Michigan State Spartans
There have been some bright spots for Michigan State, but simply getting a single Big Ten win under first-year head coach Tamara Durante and avoiding their first 0-8 season since 2021 would have to be considered a massive win. And even that doesn't look overwhelmingly likely.
They possess the conference's lowest-scoring offense and worst-scoring defense, both by a wide margin, despite having faced the easiest schedule among all Big Ten teams thus far. They did manage to play spoiler against a higher-placed team in both 2024 (Iowa) and 2025 (Ohio State), although both teams were still able to reach the postseason.
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