Indiana University Athletics
Big Ten, SEC Create New Volleyball Challenge Week
3/30/2026 11:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
ROSEMONT, Ill. – The Big Ten and SEC – the two deepest volleyball conferences in the country – will pit their programs against each other during the second week of the season in 2026. The inaugural Big Ten-SEC Volleyball Challenge Week will feature 30 marquee matchups and several national television contests on BTN, FOX, FS1, ESPN and the SEC Network. The week will culminate with a doubleheader at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
Head coach Steve Aird and his Indiana volleyball team will play a pair of matches against Georgia (Tuesday, Sept. 1) and the defending national champions, Texas A&M (Sept. 2). Purdue, who will play the same pair of SEC foes, is the host site for that week's quadrant. All four matches will be played at Holloway Gymnasium in West Lafayette.
This is the third-straight season that IU will play the defending champions away from home. The Hoosiers went to Austin in 2024 to play Texas (L, 0-3) and kicked off November last year by beating Penn State (W, 3-0) in State College. With an already scheduled game against Tennessee (Sept. 6), IU is set to play three of the SEC's top teams within six days of each other.
The last meeting against Georgia in program history came all the way back in 1992. The two sides have split the previous four meetings at two apiece. This will be the third time IU has played Texas A&M in Aird's tenure. The Aggies won in 2018 (University Park, Pa.) before the Hoosiers returned the favor in 2022 (Bowling Green, Ky.). Texas A&M leads the all-time series 4-2.
Current members of the two conferences have combined to win the last six national championships. Three of last year's Final Four teams came from either the Big Ten or SEC. Other premier matchups that week include USC-Texas (Sept. 2) and Wisconsin-Florida (Sept. 2). The Wrigley Field doubleheader (Sept. 6), the first volleyball matchups in the stadium, will pit Nebraska-Missouri and Penn State-Kentucky against each other on FOX.
Television selections and match times will be set at a later date.
2026 Indiana Volleyball Schedule – as announced so far
Tuesday, Sept. 1 – vs. Georgia (West Lafayette, Ind.)
Wednesday, Sept. 2 – vs. Texas A&M (West Lafayette, Ind.)
Sunday, Sept. 6 – vs. Tennessee (Nashville, Tenn.)
Head coach Steve Aird and his Indiana volleyball team will play a pair of matches against Georgia (Tuesday, Sept. 1) and the defending national champions, Texas A&M (Sept. 2). Purdue, who will play the same pair of SEC foes, is the host site for that week's quadrant. All four matches will be played at Holloway Gymnasium in West Lafayette.
This is the third-straight season that IU will play the defending champions away from home. The Hoosiers went to Austin in 2024 to play Texas (L, 0-3) and kicked off November last year by beating Penn State (W, 3-0) in State College. With an already scheduled game against Tennessee (Sept. 6), IU is set to play three of the SEC's top teams within six days of each other.
The last meeting against Georgia in program history came all the way back in 1992. The two sides have split the previous four meetings at two apiece. This will be the third time IU has played Texas A&M in Aird's tenure. The Aggies won in 2018 (University Park, Pa.) before the Hoosiers returned the favor in 2022 (Bowling Green, Ky.). Texas A&M leads the all-time series 4-2.
Current members of the two conferences have combined to win the last six national championships. Three of last year's Final Four teams came from either the Big Ten or SEC. Other premier matchups that week include USC-Texas (Sept. 2) and Wisconsin-Florida (Sept. 2). The Wrigley Field doubleheader (Sept. 6), the first volleyball matchups in the stadium, will pit Nebraska-Missouri and Penn State-Kentucky against each other on FOX.
Television selections and match times will be set at a later date.
2026 Indiana Volleyball Schedule – as announced so far
Tuesday, Sept. 1 – vs. Georgia (West Lafayette, Ind.)
Wednesday, Sept. 2 – vs. Texas A&M (West Lafayette, Ind.)
Sunday, Sept. 6 – vs. Tennessee (Nashville, Tenn.)
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