May 4, 2008

2008 Big Ten Softball Tournament Bracket in PDF Format

Michigan and Northwestern each won their final game of the year to share the Big Ten softball regular season championship and closed out the conference season with matching 18-2 records.  NU will host this week's 2008 Big Ten Softball Tournament which will take place on May 8-10 at Sharon J. Drysdale Field.  After all tiebreakers between Michigan and Northwestern came out equal, the Wildcats won the official coin toss which was conducted by Big Ten Conference officials to determine this year's host.  The Wildcats and Wolverines are the top two seeds while Iowa, Minnesota, Purdue, Illinois, Michigan State and Ohio State make up the rest of the field. 

This is the first Big Ten regular season title for Michigan since the 2005 season, the same year the Wolverines won the national championship.  This also marks the first conference crown for Northwestern since 2006.  Third-seeded Iowa finished the conference season with a 14-6 mark and will be in search of its third Big Ten Tournament title. 

The tournament will open with No. 2 Michigan (48-5, 18-2) facing No. 7 Michigan State (26-28, 8-12) on Thursday, May 8 at 2 p.m.  No. 1 Northwestern (34-13, 18-2) and No. 8 Ohio State (33-22, 7-13)  will follow in Game 2, beginning at 4:30 p.m.  Friday's action will begin at 9 a.m. as No. 3 Iowa (38-17, 14-6) and No. 6 Illinois (30-31, 8-12) hit the field.  No. 4 Minnesota (28-15, 9-7) will then take on No. 5 Purdue (34-20, 9-9) at 11:30 a.m.  Semifinal games will begin at 2 p.m. on Friday, with the championship scheduled for Saturday at Noon.

The Big Ten Network will broadcast live the final five games of the tournament beginning at 9 a.m. on Friday.  For more information on the 2008 Big Ten Softball Tournament visit www.bigten.org.

2008 Big Ten Softball Tournament
Sharon J. Drysdale Field - Evanston, Ill.
Thursday, May 8
Game 1: No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 7 Michigan State, 2 p.m.
Game 2: No. 1 Northwestern vs. No. 8 Ohio State, 4:30 p.m.

Friday, May 9
Game 3: No. 3 Iowa vs. No. 6 Illinois, 9 a.m.
Game 4: No. 4 Minnesota vs. No. 5 Purdue 11:30 a.m.
Game 5: Game 1 winner vs. Game 3 Winner, 2 p.m.
Game 6: Game 2 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner, 4:30 p.m.
 
Saturday, May 10
Game 7: Tournament Championship, Noon

All Times Central