College Hockey National Championship Odds: Who will win the NCAA Hockey championship?

February is here, which means March Madness is just around the corner – and we don’t mean college basketball.

The 16-team NCAA hockey tournament is less than two months from starting, and conference tournaments are only a few weeks away. That means the online sportsbook has begun taking bets on which college hockey team will ultimately hoist the championship trophy April 12 in St. Louis.

As the tournament gets closer, and more contenders fall by the wayside, the odds will evolve further too. That makes now a good time to get odds if you wish to wager on the college hockey champ.

Here is a look at where the odds stand as of Feb. 7.

NCAA Hockey National Championship Odds

• Boston College (+300)

• Michigan State (+450)

• Denver (+550)

• Minnesota (+800)

• Maine (+1200)

• Western Michigan (+1400)

• Michigan (+1600)

• Providence (+1800)

• Boston University (+2000)

• North Dakota (+2500)

• Cornell (+2500)

NCAA Hockey National Championship Favorite

Boston College (+300)

The Eagles have spent the entire season ranked in the top-20 and have been ranked No. 1 according to USA Today for weeks. BC is talented and starving for a national championship, since it lost to Denver in the national championship a year ago and has not hoisted the championship trophy since 2012 – an astronomically long time in BC hockey years.

But the Eagles have a dozen NHL-drafted players on their roster, including Ryan Leonard who was chosen eighth in 2023, plus top 2025 NHL Draft prospects James Hagens and Teddy Stiga.

BC is on the revenge tour, which will start if it is able to claim the Beanpot championship Monday against Boston University – the Eagles somehow haven’t won the four-team Boston-centric tournament since 2016. Anything can ultimately happen over four best-of-1 tournaments – aka, the NCAA hockey tournament – but the Eagles are a worthy favorite.

NCAA Hockey National Championship Contenders

Michigan State (+450)

The Spartans have not been to the Frozen Four since their national-championship winning season of 2007, but coach Adam Nightingale has Michigan State back on the college-hockey map, since it is ranked No. 2 in the nation and is a bona fide national-title contender this season.

The Spartans are led by offensive force Isaac Howard, who has 21 goals, and junior Daniel Russell, who is second in the nation with seven game-winning goals. The Spartans are fifth in the nation in goals per game (3.57) and seventh in goals-against per game (2.07), thanks to goalie Trey Augustine, who is sporting a gaudy .926 save percentage as of Feb. 7.

Denver (+550)

The reigning national champs are looking formidable yet again, since the Pioneers are ranked sixth in the country and have spent every week inside the top-20 of the college-hockey rankings. David Carle’s team is seeking its third national championship in the past four seasons and its second straight.

That gives reason for pause before throwing down all your money on Denver, even though it is second in the nation in goals per game (4.00) and has a seasoned roster full of 14 NHL draft picks – keyed by last year’s No. 12 pick Zeev Buium and Sam Harris, who has 15 goals. 

Will Denver’s luck run out? It sure could, especially with supremely talented teams around it this season. 

Minnesota (+800)

The Golden Gophers, like Boston College, are nursing a way-too-long tournament drought, since Minnesota has not won the national championship since 2003. 

Still, the Golden Gophers have been knocking on the door since they have been to the Frozen Four in two of the past three seasons. Minnesota leads the nation in goals per game (4.03), led by 20-goal-scorer Jimmy Snuggerud and a roster loaded with skilled NHL-drafted players like Sam Rinzel (No. 25 by the Blackhawks in 2022), Matthew Wood (No. 15 by the Predators in 2023) and Oliver Moore (No. 19 by the Blackhawks in 2023).

Can the Golden Gophers outscore their defensive deficiencies? Minnesota is 11th in goals-against per game (2.37), the lowest-ranked team on this list, even though goalie Liam Souliere is 11th in goals-against average (2.02) and tied for 11th in save percentage (.927).