Big Ten Men’s Lacrosse: Six Teams and the Regular-Season Record
The six Big Ten men’s lacrosse teams, 2026 conference records, regular-season title history and the schedule context behind their statistics.
Big Ten men’s lacrosse is a six-team NCAA Division I conference competition: Johns Hopkins, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State and Rutgers. Those are the six programs listed in the official 2026 standings—not every university in the wider Big Ten.
The conference began men’s lacrosse play in 2015. Johns Hopkins joined as an affiliate, bringing its previously independent men’s program into a league with the five other schools. Its affiliate membership formally began July 1, 2014; its first Big Ten playing season followed the next spring. Johns Hopkins’ announcement documents both dates.
The six teams and their regular-season titles
Maryland leads the conference’s regular-season championship history with seven titles through 2026, a total confirmed by the Big Ten’s championship announcement. Johns Hopkins has four, Penn State three and Ohio State two. Michigan and Rutgers have not won a regular-season title in that span.
The table combines the Big Ten’s historical championship ledger through 2025 with the 2026 conference records and that season’s four-way co-championship. Teams are ordered by total regular-season titles, not tournament seed.
| Team | 2026 Big Ten record | Regular-season titles, 2015–2026 | Championship seasons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maryland | 3–2 | 7 | 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2026 |
| Johns Hopkins | 3–2 | 4 | 2015, 2023, 2024, 2026* |
| Penn State | 3–2 | 3 | 2019, 2023, 2026 |
| Ohio State | 3–2 | 2 | 2025, 2026* |
| Michigan | 2–3 | 0 | — |
| Rutgers | 1–4 | 0 | — |
An asterisk marks a shared title. Each co-champion receives one title credit; these are not fractional championships. The 2020 season ended before conference play and produced no champion.
Maryland won at least a share of the first four regular-season championships, from 2015 through 2018. More recently, Johns Hopkins earned titles in three of four seasons from 2023 through 2026, including an outright 5–0 championship in 2024. The Blue Jays’ 2026 team notes confirm that recent run and their four-title total.
Why a 3–2 record won the 2026 championship
The 2026 conference schedule gave each team five league games. Maryland, Johns Hopkins, Penn State and Ohio State all finished 3–2, producing four regular-season co-champions. That is a .600 conference winning percentage: three wins divided by five games.
Tournament seeding broke the tie for bracket placement, but did not turn one of those teams into the sole regular-season champion. The season-ending report distinguishes the shared title from the seeds.
Keep regular-season championships, conference tournament championships and NCAA championships in separate columns. They describe different competitions. For bracket details and postseason results, see the Big Ten lacrosse tournament guide.
Reading Big Ten statistics correctly
A Big Ten team’s full-season statistics are not necessarily its statistics against Big Ten opponents. The conference record book separates overall and conference figures, and the difference can materially change a scoring comparison.
For example, Ohio State’s 2025 final standings line records:
- Conference regular season: 58 goals in five games, or 11.6 goals per game.
- Overall season: 209 goals in 17 games, or 12.3 goals per game, rounded to one decimal.
Both calculations use the same official standings table, but answer different questions. The first measures league regular-season scoring; the second includes nonconference and postseason games.
Historical comparisons also need a schedule check. In 2021, each team played 10 conference regular-season games, compared with five in the surrounding completed seasons. Maryland’s 10–0 record that year and its 5–0 record in 2022 were both perfect, but raw conference scoring totals came from different numbers of games. Those schedules appear in the Big Ten’s year-by-year standings.
When recording a Big Ten scoring mark, label the season, games played and competition scope: conference regular season, conference tournament or overall season. That makes the number usable rather than merely large.