BU’s Beanpot victory and the NCAA men’s hockey bubble
While the biggest prize in college hockey clearly is the national championship trophy, in one corner of the sport’s landscape, that accolade has a rival: the Beanpot.
The 72nd tournament, which features Boston College, Boston University, Northeastern and Harvard, concluded Monday at TD Garden with BC facing BU in the championship game. And to paraphrase NESN announcer Tom Caron, BC is the No. 1 team in the country, but BU is No. 1 in Boston.
The Terriers upset the top-ranked Eagles 4-1, rallying from a lackluster first period and early 1-0 deficit to convincingly outplay BC over the last two periods.
Both teams are ranked in the top 10 in the country (BC is No. 1, BU is No. 9 in the most recent polls), but even in years when the Beanpot doesn’t have national implications of that magnitude, the energy, desire and hatred boil over for the schools and their fans.
This year’s final had a different twist, as nine of the players — six from BC, three from BU — were teammates at the IIHF World Junior Championship, where they won the gold medal for Team USA in January. At least one member of the Eagles or Terriers scored or assisted on all but one of the 37 goals the U.S. scored in the tournament.
Any friendships were on hold Monday night.
“It’s just understanding that you can’t have any friends out there,” BC freshman James Hagens told the Boston Globe last month. “You might play with them for a while. They might be your best buddies, but you just have to understand it’s a hockey game, and you have to go out there and win.”
BU’s Cole Eiserman expressed similar sentiments. “You battle with those guys, get close to those guys, but I think we’re all competitive guys,” he told the Globe. “We want to win for our own school.”
The teams met in a home-and-home series in January, with BC sweeping by scores of 6-2 and 2-0. But those results meant little to BU after its trophy-lifting win Monday night. The Terriers won its first Beanpot since 2022, while BC’s most recent championship was in 2016.
While Monday’s game will not count in the Hockey East standings, conference races are heating up around the country as the selection of the NCAA tournament field nears.
The NCAA field includes the winners of the six conference tournaments — Atlantic, Big Ten, CCHA, ECAC, Hockey East and NCHC — and 10 at-large teams based on the PairWise rankings.
Conference tournament championship games are scheduled for March 22, with the NCAA tournament selections to be announced March 23. Regionals will be held March 27-30, with the Frozen Four on April 10 and 12 in St. Louis. Every NCAA tournament game, including the selection show, will be on ESPN networks and streamed on ESPN+.
Here’s a look at where the NCAA field stands, with teams listed in order of the PairWise rankings as of Feb. 11.
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Frozen Four or bust
The head of the class this season, these teams are odds-on favorites to make it to St. Louis.
No. 1 Boston College
Record: 21-5-1, 13-3-1 Hockey East
Last week’s results: Beat Northeastern 8-2; won at New Hampshire 4-2
Key games: Feb. 14-15 home-and-home vs. UMass
No. 2 Michigan State
Record: 22-5-3, 13-4-3 Big Ten
Last week’s results: Lost to Michigan 2-1; beat Michigan 6-1
Key games: Feb. 21-22 vs. Penn State
No. 3 Minnesota
Record: 21-6-3, 12-4-2 Big Ten
Last week’s results: Did not play
Key games: Feb. 14-15 at Michigan; Feb. 21-22 vs. Ohio State
Safe and sound
These teams are all but assured a spot in the NCAA field as either a conference champion or via an at-large spot.
No. 4 Maine
Record: 18-5-4, 10-3-4 Hockey East
Last week’s results: Tied at Providence 3-3; won at Providence 1-0 (OT)
Key games: Feb. 21 at UConn; March 7-8 at UMass
No. 5 Western Michigan
Record: 20-5-1, 13-2-1 NCHC
Last week’s results: Beat St. Cloud State 4-0 and 6-1
Key games: Feb. 14-15 vs. Omaha; Feb. 21-22 at Arizona State
No. 6 Boston University
Record: 16-10-1, 10-6-1 Hockey East
Last week’s results: Beat Harvard 7-1; lost at Merrimack 2-1 (OT)
Key games: Feb. 14-15 home-and-home vs. Providence
No. 7 Providence
Record: 16-7-5, 6-6-5 Hockey East
Last week’s results: Tied Maine 3-3; lost to Maine 1-0 (OT)
Key games: Feb. 14-15 home-and-home vs. BU; Feb. 22 vs. UMass-Lowell
No. 8 Ohio State
Record: 18-8-2, 11-6-1 Big Ten
Last week’s results: Won at Notre Dame 5-1 and 5-1
Key games: Feb. 21-22 at Minnesota; Feb. 27-28 vs. Michigan
No. 9 UConn
Record: 15-10-3, 8-8-3 Hockey East
Last week’s results: Lost to UMass 5-4; beat UMass-Lowell 5-4 (OT)
Key games: Feb. 21 vs. Maine; Feb. 25 vs. BU
No. 10 Denver
Record: 20-7-1, 9-6-1 NCHC
Last week’s results: Won at Arizona State 5-4 (OT); lost at Arizona State 6-5 (OT)
Key games: Feb. 14-15 vs. North Dakota; March 7-8 home-and-home vs. Colorado College
In the field — for now
UMass-Lowell has slipped a few notches with three losses in four games, while Michigan and Arizona State improved their standing this past weekend with splits against Michigan State and Denver, respectively.
No. 11 UMass-Lowell
Record: 14-10-3, 7-8-2 Hockey East
Last week’s results: Lost to Vermont 5-3; lost at UConn 5-4 (OT)
Key games: Feb. 22 at Providence; Feb. 27-March 1 home-and-home vs. UMass
No. 12 Michigan
Record: 16-12-2, 10-9-1 Big Ten
Last week’s results: Won at Michigan State 2-1; lost to Michigan State 6-1
Key games: Feb. 14-15 vs. Minnesota; Feb. 27-28 at Ohio State
No. 13 Arizona State
Record: 17-10-1, 12-6-0 NCHC
Last week’s results: Lost to Denver 5-4 (OT); beat Denver 6-5 (OT)
Key games: Feb. 21-22 vs. Western Michigan; Feb. 28-March 1 at Omaha
One-bid league champs
It’s looking more and more likely we’ll have three one-bid leagues — the ECAC, CCHA and Atlantic. Quinnipiac and Minnesota State are on the fringes of the at-large bubble, but if they fail to win their conference tournaments, the losses along the way seem likely to dash their at-large hopes.
Quinnipiac leads a tight ECAC race, with the top five teams within five points of each other, while Minnesota State has a solid hold on first place in the CCHA. So we’re penciling the Bobcats and Mavericks in the NCAA field for now.
In the Atlantic, Sacred Heart, Holy Cross and Bentley are within one point of each other in the league standings — although Holy Cross and Bentley have played two fewer games than Sacred Heart — and are bunched together in the PairWise. We gave the nod to the Crusaders, who are one spot ahead of Bentley in the PairWise, but as with the other three leagues in this group, it will all come down to the conference tournament.
Quinnipiac
Record: 17-9-2, 11-4-1 ECAC (No. 15 in PairWise)
Last week’s results: Beat St. Lawrence 6-1; lost to Clarkson 3-2 (OT)
Key games: Feb. 14 at Union; Feb. 28 at Clarkson
Minnesota State
Record: 20-8-2, 15-5-2 CCHA (No. 17 in PairWise)
Last week’s results: Beat Augustana 4-1 and 2-1
Key games: Feb. 21-22 at Lake Superior State
Holy Cross
Record: 17-11-2, 16-4-2 Atlantic (No. 30 in PairWise)
Last week’s results: Won at RIT 9-2 and 3-0
Key games: Feb. 20 vs. Bentley; Feb. 24 vs. AIC
On the bubble
Assuming there will be three conference champions outside of the top 16 in PairWise, teams below No. 13 will be out of luck in terms of grabbing an at-large NCAA bid. But the standings in this range are very tight, with positions changing with almost every result. These teams will have opportunities for key wins to gain critical PairWise capital, but the margin for error is slim.
No. 14 UMass
Record: 15-11-2, 6-8-2 Hockey East
Last week’s results: Won at UConn 5-4
Key games: Feb. 14-15 home-and-home vs. BC; Feb. 27-March 1 home-and-home vs. UMass-Lowell
No. 16 Penn State
Record: 14-11-3, 5-10-3 Big Ten
Last week’s results: Won at Wisconsin 2-0 and 6-2
Key games: Feb. 21-22 at Michigan State; Feb. 28-March 1 vs. Minnesota
No. 18 New Hampshire
Record: 11-12-3, 3-11-2 Hockey East
Last week’s results: Lost to BC 4-2; lost to Merrimack 5-4
Key games: Feb. 14-15 at Maine; Feb. 28-March 1 home-and-home vs. BC
LAS COLINAS, Texas — Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork told leaders of the College Football Playoff on Tuesday that the sport’s calendar needs to change, and it’s a critical component as they consider the playoff’s future format.
Bjork, just months removed from watching his Buckeyes win the national title, attended a portion of the annual CFP spring meetings to provide feedback with the three other athletic directors who participated in semifinals and hosted first-round games: Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte, Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft and Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua, who is part of the CFP’s management committee along with the 10 FBS commissioners.
Bjork said CFP executive director Rich Clark asked if he had one major point he wanted to make before leaving.
“We’ve had so many disruptions over the last five-plus years that I think the time is now to not be reactive, be proactive,” Bjork told ESPN. “When we had this setting here with the commissioners, our job was to provide feedback on what was it like to go through the 12-team playoff … but it all gets impacted by the calendar. I felt it was important to lay that out with everyone in the room to say, separate from the CFP process, if we don’t fix our calendar as an industry, then we’re going to continue to have unintended consequences.”
Bjork shared with the commissioners the perspective of a school trying to win a national title while classes had begun Jan. 6. Ohio State’s academic advisers traveled with the team to the semifinal and national title game, he said, but some athletes missed class and the school had to apply for waivers around the countable athletically related activities, which limits schools to 20 hours of practice time while classes are in session.
“When you don’t have class, there is no limit to CARA hours,” he said, noting that Texas started classes later. “It created some disadvantages. It all goes back to what’s countable CARA hours, NCAA structure. The portal is the next big conversation after the House case and truly what kind of rules can we set? Will we have the authority around transfer rules to set some parameters?”
Bjork said the transfer portal needs to move to a 10-day period in May for fall sports because if the NCAA House settlement is approved, most of the players are going to be signing revenue share agreements with the schools from July 1 to June 30.
“May makes the most sense” to align player contracts with the portal, Bjork said.
Bjork, who said he’s on the implementation committee for the House settlement, said “if everyone follows the structure, it’s going to be a great structure.”
“And everyone has to follow the rules,” he said, “and agree that this is the structure, which we have to. If we don’t do that, then what good is the settlement?”
CLEVELAND — New York Yankees designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton took batting practice with teammates Tuesday as he continues to recover from elbow issues.
Stanton took swings before the game at Progressive Field as the Yankees prepared for the middle game of their series against the Cleveland Guardians.
While Stanton has been working behind the scenes, this was the first time he has taken outdoor batting practice. Manager Aaron Boone did not mention anything about Stanton’s progress during his pregame availability.
Stanton, 35, has been dealing with tendinitis in both elbows, with the ailment known as “tennis elbow” shutting him down since spring training. He has said his elbows also bothered him last season and that it’s a matter of pain tolerance.
The team does not have a timetable for Stanton’s return to their lineup. It’s likely he’ll have to go on a minor league rehab assignment before he’s ready to play in major league games.
Stanton is in his eighth season with New York. Last season, he hit 27 homers and drove in 72 runs in 114 games, and in the postseason, he was among the club’s top hitters. As the Yankees advanced to the World Series, he finished with 15 hits, including seven home runs, and 16 RBIs.
Stanton has 429 homers in 15 seasons with the Yankees and Marlins.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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