The Big Ten's Non-conference Tournament Rundown

 

The mid-February start to the college baseball season is, for lack of better words, not ideal for northern programs and fans. Between preseason practice often relegated indoors, or on turfed fields where snow is piled along the foul lines, in the event the temperature is warm enough to venture out, and the need to travel to locations south and west to start the season until the calendar turns to March, the date of college baseball's opening day its neither logistically fun nor conducive to much fanfare for those of us in this part of the country.

But there is one aspect of February college baseball I deeply enjoy: the neutral site tournament.

Whether in Arizona, Florida, South Carolina, Texas or other, it's always fun to see a Big Ten team travel to a neutral site and play a weekend of round robin games against teams from other parts of the country. There's time when you can see how a club stacks up when a tournament has one or two ranked teams. Sometimes, unbeknownst at the moment, you're having a pair of teams square off that again meet in the NCAA Tournament or fighting for a final at-large berth. It's not rare for a prospect to shoot up follow lists after an impressive outing against an unfamiliar opponent in new territories, having cross-checkers ping one another.

With the Big Ten moving to 30 conference games and the conference season starting the weekend of March 7, there's now only three pre-conference weekend on the books. Although the slate of weekends outside of Big Ten competition has shrunk, there's no shortage in meaty non-conference tournaments. Here's a list of which Big Ten teams are playing in what tournaments, when and where, before Big Ten play begins, with my personal favorites being the MLB Desert Invitational, Jax College Baseball Classic, and Las Vegas Classic.

Feb. 14-16

MLB Desert Invitational - Central Arizona

Feb. 14 Nebraska vs. UC Irvine

Feb. 15 Nebraska vs. Vanderbilt

Feb. 16 Nebraska vs. San Diego State

Puerto Rico Challenge 

Feb. 14 Michigan vs. Virginia

Feb. 14 Penn State vs. Missouri

Feb. 15 Michigan vs. Rice

Feb. 15 Penn State vs. Stetson

Feb. 16 Michigan vs. Villanova

Feb. 16 Penn State vs. UConn

Feb. 17 Michigan vs. Stetson

Sanderson Ford College Baseball Classic - Surprise, Ariz.

Feb. 14 Indiana vs. UNLV

Feb. 15 Indiana vs. Xavier

Feb. 16 Indiana vs. Oregon State

Swing and Swine Classic - Charleston, S.C.

Feb. 14 Maryland vs. UAB

Feb. 15 Maryland vs. Ball State

Feb. 16 Maryland vs. Mercyhurst

Feb. 21-23

College Baseball Series - Arlington, Texas

Feb. 21 Michigan vs. TCU

Feb. 22 Michigan vs. Kansas State

Feb. 23 Michigan vs. Arkansas

Jax College Baseball Classic - Jacksonville, Fla.

Feb. 21 Ohio State vs. NC State
Feb. 22 Ohio State vs. Coastal Carolina
Feb. 23 Ohio State vs. Alabama

Karbach Round Rock Classic - Round Rock, Texas

Feb. 21 Minnesota vs. Oklahoma

Feb. 22 Minnesota vs. Virginia

Feb. 23 Minnesota vs. Oregon State

Kleberg Classic - Corpus Christi, Texas

Feb. 21 Michigan State vs. Washington State

Feb. 21 UCLA vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi

Feb. 22 Michigan State vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi

Feb. 22 UCLA vs. Washington State

Feb. 23 Michigan State vs. UCLA

Stetson Tournament - DeLand, Fla.

Feb. 21 Iowa vs. Notre Dame

Feb. 22 Iowa @ Stetson

Feb. 23 Iowa vs. Maryland-Baltimore County

Feb. 28 - March 2

2025 College Baseball Series - Arlington

Feb. 28 Ohio State vs. Auburn

March 1 Ohio State vs. Baylor

March 2 Ohio State vs. Oregon State

Frisco College Baseball Classic - Frisco, Texas

Feb. 28 Nebraska vs. Sam Houston St.

March 1 Nebraska vs. LSU

March 2 Nebraska vs. Kansas State

Las Vegas Classic - Las Vegas

Feb. 28 Illinois vs. Texas Tech

Feb. 28 Washington vs. Texas
March 1 Illinois vs. Washington
March 2 Illinois vs. Texas
March 2 Washington vs. Texas Tech

Southern California College Baseball Classic - Los Angeles

Feb. 28 Vanderbilt @ UCLA
Feb. 28 USC vs. UConn

March 1 UConn @ UCLA

March 1 USC vs. Vanderbilt

March 2 USC @ UCLA