A bigger Big Ten Conference means a bigger Big Ten Baseball Tournament.
A report from D1Baseball's Patrick Ebert indicates the tournament will expand to 12 teams in 2025. That expansion will also come with a change of format.
The previous model, with eight qualifying teams, operated as two, four-team double-elimination brackets. The winners of each bracket played a winner-take-all final.
The new format would remove the bracket until the semifinals, while still guaranteeing every qualifying team two games. The 12 teams will be split into four pods of three teams. Winners of each pod will advance to a single-elimination bracket.
The Big Ten Baseball Tournament is slated to remain in Omaha at least through the 2027 season. Charles Schwab Field, previously TD Ameritrade Park, has hosted the tournament every year since 2018, except for the canceled COVID-19 season. Omaha also has hosted the event in 2014 and 2016.
