After a historic season for Nebraska Cornhuskers Softball, the Big 10 Softball Tournament will return to Lincoln for the first time since 2013, making them the first team to receive a second hosting gig since that time.
The timing couldn’t be better as they just completed their greatest season ever. The Huskers swept the conference regular season and tournament titles before advancing to the Women’s College World Series and finishing with a best ever 52-8 record against one of the nations toughest
schedules. They also achieved their first ever #1 ranking during the season and actually completed their regular season ranked #1 in two of the four major polls.
The Huskers led the Big 10 in attendance and were #3 nationally averaging 2780 fans per game, topping the 3,000 mark nine times in 2026. The timing as far as fan interest couldn’t be better as the Huskers top 10 attendance marks have all occurred in the last two seasons.
The tournament will be the cherry on top of the inaugural season christening Rhonda Revelle Field, which was named for their Head Coach who will enter 2027 as her 35th season leading the Huskers.
And, yes, I have noticed the Big 10 Softball Tourney appears to simply make the rounds of anyone who requests it, regardless if the hosting school seems to have little more than a passing interest in the sport where their own team is concerned. In recent seasons, selections have made me wonder if there shouldn’t be requirements regarding things such as the host field itself and a minimal actual investment in the program among other things.
In 2024, Iowa hosted the tourney and boasted a team not good enough to make the field, a playing surface which did not meet NCAA Regional hosting guidelines and a home stadium in a city park which was part of a four field complex as opposed to a stand-alone stadium. And in 2026, the host team was Maryland who also missed the tourney. I give credit to 2025 host Purdue who has, by far, the best softball press box I have encountered in the Big 10 or anywhere else for that matter. You can see the investment in the program in West Lafayette.
The baseball tourney’s permanence in Omaha shows that moving it around is not a conference requirement. And while I would never suggest that for softball, perhaps the hosting guidelines could be tightened up as an encouragement to step up investing in the sport. Here endeth the rant.
But if I throw a few stones at the selection process, I do it to point out that in current times Nebraska should be hosting the event more often than every 13 years. The field is top-notch, the fan support is the best in the conference and they just pulled off an NCAA Regional and Super Regional in consecutive weeks. They have proven for the last two years they are more than capable of handling a crowd.
But first, they will welcome the Big 10 to Bowlin Stadium this spring where they will try to defend their 2026 title. A much younger but talented squad will take on the challenge where the Huskers have fared very well in recent years winning the 2022 and 2026 championships while making the semi-finals every season in between.
