How Do You Cure a Super Bowl Hangover? Beans!

The Beanpot Trophy. Photo Courtesy of the NCAA.

Not that it will garner much (if any) sympathy west of the Connecticut River, but New England suffered a pretty demoralizing loss on the gridiron Sunday night. While local sports radio personalities debate whether Drake Maye can recover from the beating he took over the course of the playoffs and whether Josh McDaniels could have made better adjustments to the offense during halftime, and if the Patriots can repeat this season’s Cinderella run next year with a target placed firmly on their backs while facing a first-place schedule, the sporting calendar waits for no fan.

A loss like the one suffered by the Patriots Sunday night might paralyze many fanbases for days, if not weeks. But it’s February in Boston, and there’s one sure cure for getting over a sports hangover such as this: The Beanpot.

Held annually on the first two Mondays in February, the Beanpot Hockey Tournament is the oldest and most prestigious college hockey tournament in the country. Pitting the four Division One hockey teams in Boston (Northeastern, Harvard, Boston College and Boston University) against each other, the tournament consists of back to back doubleheaders on the aforementioned Mondays. The tournament dates back to 1952, having been contested at three sites: the Boston Arena, the Boston Garden, and now the TD Garden.

Initially started as a way to fill a couple of empty dates at the old Boston Arena (better known for years as Matthews Arena), the Beanpot has grown exponentially since it was first contested. The Beanpot is Boston hockey’s unofficial championship. It almost doesn’t matter what happens afterwards in conference play or even the subsequent national tournament. In Boston, if your team wins the Beanpot, you are Boston’s college hockey champions. Ask any of the dozens of NHL players who participated in the tournament during their college days, and they will list these two Monday nights among their favorite hockey memories.

Beanpot Championship Banners Hang at TD Garden. Photo by Paul Baker, Stadium Journey.

The winning team has their names raised to the rafters of the TD Garden, and the trophy is skated around the ice with all the reverence usually reserved for the Stanley Cup itself.

The 73rd edition of the Beanpot, held this year on February 2^nd and 9^th, pits the Boston College Eagles against the Boston University Terriers in the championship game, as both teams were victorious in their openers last Monday night. It’s almost a guarantee that at least one of the teams competing will be nationally ranked, and 2026 is no different. Even in a down year for the four Boston squads, Boston College still represents at number 14, with Boston University sitting just outside the top 20. The Beanpot has been used by mediocre teams to salvage a lost season, or as a springboard to bigger things, as Boston University did last year, carrying their momentum from their Beanpot title all the way to the Frozen Four and the championship game.

From a fan’s perspective, it doesn’t get much better than this. Tickets range in price from $35 to $75, and include admission to both games. Take everything you love about college hockey and multiply it by four, and you have the Beanpot experience. Four rowdy student sections, four bands, four sets of rabid fans, and a crowd of close to 17,000 makes the Beanpot a bucket list item for any hockey fan, or any fan of college sports, for that matter.

Beans, beans are truly good for the heart.

Boston University Celebrates the 2025 Beanpot Championship. Photo Courtesy of Boston University Athletics.