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2026 Big Ten Volleyball Power Rankings: Where Every Team Stands at Midseason

Four weeks of conference play done, four to go, and each Big Ten volleyball team has been forced to dig deep and find out what they're made of. Read on for more on how they've shaken out so far.
Abbie Harris|
Oct 10, 2026; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers setter Bergen Reilly (2) talks with teammates before the third set against the Wisconsin Badgers at Bob Devaney Sport Center. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-Imagn Images
Oct 10, 2026; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers setter Bergen Reilly (2) talks with teammates before the third set against the Wisconsin Badgers at Bob Devaney Sport Center. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

It was only a matter of time before conference rankings balanced out and teams settled into their places compared to one another. And, at the halfway mark of conference play, it makes sense that now seems to be that time. I don’t expect this week’s rankings to be the final rankings but I also don’t expect to see much more than a one or two spot change from here to the Big Ten Tournament seeding time.

An interesting pattern emerged within some of the top teams this week. Four teams (Nebraska, Wisconsin, Oregon, and Minnesota) came out 2-0 but for the first time in conference play, no team swept both of their opponents. But as you’ll see, each of the top five had nearly identical pathways and outcomes in at least one of their matches.

Read on for how I used record, game play, and team statics to rate all 18 Big Ten volleyball teams this week in a conference that continues to show it's depth and parity:

No. 1 Nebraska Cornhuskers (19-0, 8-0, AVCA No. 1)

Previous Position: No. 1 (No Change)
Last Week: 3-0 vs. Northwestern, 3-1 vs. No. 12 Purdue

Nebraska, yet again, went 2-0 this past week and are continuing their journey to not only be 4-time Big Ten Champions, but to win the Big Ten Tournament and their first national championship since 2017.

In their first match of the weekend, against the Northwestern Wildcats, the Huskers showed off their bench depth, playing thirteen different players across the three-set sweep (25-17, 25-14, 25-15). Leading the baker’s dozen of players were middle blocker Andi Jackson with 10 kills, a .600 hitting percentage, and outside hitter Teraya Sigler with eight kills, a .467 hitting percentage and 12 digs.

But then, on Saturday, it finally happened. A Big Ten team won a set against the No. 1 team in the conference and the nation and showed that not only are there tiny cracks in the Nebraska foundation but that the Big Ten is a deep conference where you have to be on your A Game every single night.

Nebraska out-hit the Purdue Boilermakers .455 to .036 in the first set in their 25-13 victory, led by Virginia Adriano’s five kills on five attempts. But the Boilermakers fought back, like they had done many times before, creating confusion, playing outstanding defense, and taking advantage of uncharacteristic mistakes to be the first team in the Big Ten this season to win a set against Nebraska. Purdue out-hit and out-blocked the Huskers in the second set (.237-.118 and 4-1, respectively), looking like the team that swept SMU in the Bahamas.

As fans have seen in the past, sometimes losing a set lights a fire under the Nebraska team that makes them nearly impossible to beat. And that seemed to be the case in this match, as well. In a near reversal of the second set, the Huskers offense and defense (both at the net and in the back) came roaring back to close out the third and fourth sets 25-19, 25-14, respectively.

Nebraska’s conference schedule does not get easier from here, as they face four ranked and three “receiving votes” teams leading up to the Big Ten Tournament.

Up Next: UCLA (RV), USC (RV)

No. 2 Wisconsin Badgers (13-5, 7-1, AVCA No. 6)

Previous Position: No 2 (No Change)
Last Week: 3-0 vs. Maryland, 3-1 vs. Iowa

The Wisconsin Badgers expectedly bounced back from their 0-3 loss to Nebraska by beating the Maryland Terrapins and the Iowa Hawkeyes this week.

The Badgers swept the Terrapins for only their second conference sweep of the season (25-18, 25-23, 25-18) but were, once again, led by their outstanding freshman. Middle blocker Lynney Tarnow set a new career-high with eight blocks, followed by outside hitter Decelise Champion’s five blocks (and 17 kills at a .552 clip), and Halle Thompson’s three blocks, seven kills, and nine digs.

Maryland forced a tight second set, utilizing bursts of offense and taking advantage of Wisconsin’s hesitation on defense to build a 21-18 lead late. But a final 6-1 run led by Champion, Thompson, and a set-sealing setter dump by Charlie Fuerbringer sealed the second set for the Badgers.

The Terrapins started the third set with some of the momentum from the second and held Wisconsin’s offense to a match-low .225 but were unable to get their own offense going when the Badgers got their defense clicking, both at the net and in the back row.

Then, like in Nebraska’s second match of the weekend, the seemingly improbable thing happened when Wisconsin took on Iowa. They dropped a set. Which, on its own, is not really that improbable, as Iowa head coach Jim Barnes has been steadily improving his team since he was hired in 2021. But the set win snapped a 31-set losing streak against the Badgers dating back to 2016.

And, like the Nebraska-Purdue match, Wisconsin handily won the first set, 25-16, outhitting Iowa .345-.077. But the Hawkeyes refused to be swept and blitzed the Badgers in the second set, hitting .405 and being another team to take advantage of Wisconsin’s hesitation on defense. Wisconsin came back hard in the third and fourth sets thanks to Champion and middle blocker Jaela Auguste taking over the match.

While Wisconsin has played most of the top teams in the conference already, they do still have a handful of ranked and receiving-votes teams left on their schedule. They have set themselves up nicely for a double bye in the tournament.

Up Next: No. Washington, Michigan

No. 3 Oregon Ducks (16-2, 7-1, AVCA No. 10)

Previous Position: No. 3 (No Change)
Last Week: 3-2 vs No. 18 Indiana, 3-1 vs. Rutgers

Nebraska and Wisconsin quickly became the conference's top two teams early and have held tight all season. Throughout the season, teams 3-12 have, until recently, been playing hot potato, switching places with one another week in and week out.

Oregon, for example, started the season a little slowly but has quietly and definitively earned its way up the rankings to a solid third. And after starting the conference season with a loss against Wisconsin, they’ve rallied to a five-game winning streak against multiple ranked opponents.

This week, they once again found themselves in a dogfight against the Indiana Hoosiers. The teams battled through all four sets, with neither team getting a firm foothold in the match until the very end. Throughout the first four sets, there were 26 ties and 15 lead changes, and the average point differential in those sets was just under 3 points. The Hoosiers entered the final set with one point more than the Ducks (96-95).

Oregon came into the fifth set prepared to win. The Ducks took an early 3-0 lead and held back the surging Hoosiers, never allowing them to tie or overtake them, led by middle blocker and reigning Big Ten Co-Player Alanah Clemente, who accounted for 6 of the Ducks’ 15 points, including the match-winning kill.

The Ducks didn’t want to be left out of the match 2 fun as they took on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Sunday. In an almost comical replication of both Nebraska and Wisconsin, Oregon dominated the Knights in set one, hitting .464 to Rutgers' .000, but then fell in a very tight set 2, missing out on four separate opportunities to win (at 24-23, 25-24, 28-27, and 30-29) and instead keeping the door open for the Scarlet Knights to win the final three points and the set at 32-30.

Oregon closed the door in the third and fourth sets, 25-18 and 25-12, with setter Mariana Crownover guiding her team to a .409 and .500 hitting efficiency, respectively, the defense holding Rutgers to .000 and -.054, respectively, and Crownover’s 11-0 run from behind the service line in the fourth set.

Oregon’s remaining conference schedule includes three ranked or receiving-votes teams. They will need to retain that gritty identity that has earned them wins over other ranked teams if they want to maintain their position as third in the conference.

Up Next: No. 16 Penn State, Ohio State

No. 4 Washington Huskies (14-3, 5-3, AVCA No. 21)

Previous Position: No. 5 (+1)
Last Week: 3-1 vs. Rutgers, 0-3 vs No. 18 Indiana

Rutgers may, record-wise, be near the bottom of the Big Ten standings but they continue to show that they are not a team to be taken lightly, as they won a set off of Oregon and off of Washington (in a match that lasted over 2 ½ hours thanks to a 33-31 fourth set).

Stop me if you’ve heard this but Washington won the first set against Rutgers 25-21 thanks to early power at the net, both offensively (.222) and defensively (3 total blocks). But the second set went to a Rutgers team that forced 8 hitting errors and hit .226. In response, Washington hit .500 and had three service aces in the fourth and .295 and had 3 service aces in the fifth.

Unlike Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Oregon, however, Washington didn’t dominate their last two sets. Instead, they were further pushed in the fourth set that included 14 ties, five lead changes and 10 total set-point opportunities between the teams. On the Huskies' sixth match point opportunity, outside hitter Sammy Destler called game with her 15th kill of the match. The win surprised Washington’s total wins from last season.

The Huskies were unable to follow in their conference teammates’ footsteps and win both matches this weekend as they ran into a highly motivated Indiana Hoosiers team, looking to snap a three-game losing streak. Washington held a very early lead in set one but were no match for the aggressive Hoosiers who went on a 6-0 run midway through the first set and never let their feet off the gas pedal, despite a perfect set 3 from outside hitter Addie Kannouff.

Washington is one of those Big Ten teams that has moved up and down a handful of spots as the conference season has progressed. They likely will not finish any higher than fourth unless they are able to secure program-altering upsets against Oregon and Nebraska. But they may also fall into single-bye status for the Big Ten Tournament if other teams can consistently exploit their weaknesses.

Up Next: No. 6 Wisconsin, No. 20 Minnesota

No. 5 Michigan State Spartans (14-3, 5-3, AVCA RV)

Previous Position: 4 (-1)
Last Week: 1-3 vs. Illinois (RV), 3-1 vs. Northwestern

The Spartans started their week traveling to Champaign, Ill., to face a hungry Illinois Fighting Illini team looking to break their three-game losing skid and earn another ranked upset conference win. The Spartans went down 0-2 early (22-25, 23-25) and faced the enormously difficult task of completely stealing all of Illinois’ momentum for a reverse sweep. And, like they had done so many times before, the Spartan team rallied together and took the third set, one of only a handful of Big Ten teams that had not been swept in conference play. Tied at 20-20 in the fourth, Illinois fired off a 5-2 run, ending the match with their fifth service ace.

One thing all the top five teams in this power ranking have in common this week is winning the first set, losing the second set, then winning the next two in one of their matches.

In what probably should have been a sweep (no offense to Northwestern, who had won three sets in conference before this match), Michigan State started the match strong, winning 25-16 behind outside hitter Madi Andrews, who got 7 of her match-high 17 kills early and two of her team's five service aces that match. But we’ve seen this story before. And Northwestern flipped the script in the second set and off the arms of outside hitters Bella Bullington and Mara Štiglic (as well as the Spartans’ four service errors), tied the match up.

The Wildcats tried to hang onto their momentum in the third set, but Michigan State head coach Kristen Kelsey drew up a stunning defensive adaptation plan to cool their opponents, and it was enough to win the third and, ultimately, the fourth sets 25-21 and 25-19.

Michigan State, Washington, Purdue, Penn State, Illinois, and Indiana are all clumped together in an unusual position and are perhaps the most strongly impacted by the Big Ten’s change to one-and-done matches in the conference. They are all similar to one another in terms of records, strengths, abilities, scrappiness, and if they were to all meet up again (perhaps in the Big Ten Tournament) it’s hard to fully predict if the outcomes of those matches would be the same.

Up Next: Rutgers, Maryland

No. 6 Purdue Boilermakers (11-6, 4-4, AVCA No. 12)

Previous Position: 7 (+1)
Last Week: 3-0 vs. Iowa, 1-3 vs. No. 1 Nebraska
Up Next: No. 20 Minnesota, Northwestern

No. 7 Penn State Nittany Lions (13-5, 5-2, AVCA No. 16)

Previous Position: No. 6 (-1)
Last Week: 2-3 UCLA (RV), 3-0 USC
Next Week: No. 10 Oregon, No 18 Indiana

No.8 Illinois Fighting Illini (12-7, 4-4, AVCA RV)

Previous Position: No. 8 (No Change)
Last Week: 3-1 vs. Michigan State (RV), 2-3 vs. Michigan
Next Week: Maryland, Rutgers

No. 9 Indiana Hoosiers (11-6, 4-4, AVCA No. 18)

Previous Position: No. 9 (No Change)
Last Week: 3-2 vs. No. 10 Oregon, 3-0 vs. No. 21 Washington
Next Week: Ohio State, No. 16 Penn State

No. 10 UCLA Bruins (15-4, 6-2, AVCA RV)

Previous Position: No. 11 (+1)
Last Week: 3-2 vs. No. 16 Penn State, 3-2 vs. Ohio State
Next Week: No. 1 Nebraska, Iowa

No. 11 Minnesota Golden Gophers (11-5, 5-3, AVCA No. 20)

Previous Position: No. 10 (-1)
Last Week: 3-1 vs. Michigan, 3-0 vs. Maryland
Next Week: No. 12 Purdue, No. 21 Washington

No. 12 Michigan Wolverines (12-7, 3-5)

Previous Position: No. 13 (+1)
Last Week: 1-3 vs. No. 20 Minnesota, 3-2 vs. Illinois (RV)
Next Week: Northwestern, No. 6 Wisconsin

No. 13 USC Trojans (8-10, 2-6)

Previous Position: No. 12 (-1)
Last Week: 2-3 vs. Ohio State, 0-3 vs. No. 12 Penn State
Next Week: Iowa, No. 1 Nebraska

No. 14 Ohio State Buckeyes (10-8, 3-5)

Previous Position: No. 15 (+1)
Last Week: 3-2 vs. USC, 2-3 vs. UCLA (RV)
Next Week: No. 18 Indiana, No. 10 Oregon

No. 15 Rutgers Scarlet Knights (10-10, 1-7)

Previous Position: No. 16 (+1)
Last Week: 1-3 vs. No. 21 Washington, 1-3 vs. No. 10 Oregon
Next Week: Michigan State (RV), Illinois (RV)

No. 16 Iowa Hawkeyes (12-10, 1-6)

Previous Position: No. 17 (+1)
Last Week: 0-3 vs. No. 12 Purdue, 1-3 vs. No. 6 Wisconsin
Next Week: USC, UCLA (RV)

No. 17 Maryland Terrapins (12-7, 2-6)

Previous Position: No. 14 (-3)
Last Week: 0-3 vs. No. 6 Wisconsin, 0-3 vs. No. 20 Minnesota
Next Week: Illinois (RV), Michigan State (RV)

No 18. Northwestern Wildcats (7-12, 0-8)

Previous Position: No. 18 (No Change)
Last Week: 0-3 vs. No. 1 Nebraska, 1-3 vs. Michigan State (RV)
Next Week: Michigan, No. 12 Purdue

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Abbie Harris
ABBIE HARRIS

Abbie Harris has been talking about women's sports to anyone who would listen, and sometimes to those who wouldn't, for as long as she can remember. She has been the host of a weekly Nebraska women's sports podcast for over a year, primarily covering volleyball, women's basketball, and softball. Harris holds three degrees, including a Ph.D. from Saint Louis.

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