Introduction

The first two Mondays of February every year, TD Garden is full of coordinated chants and friendly competition. Initiated in 1952, the Beanpot is a traditional ice hockey tournament among four greater-Boston area colleges: Harvard, Boston College, Boston University, and Northeastern. The annual hockey tournament sets the tone for the upcoming season, as none of the four teams has ever won NCAA Division 1 Men’s Hockey Championship without winning a Beanpot Trophy that year. So, which team has the most Beanpot Titles? Who has the longest streak? We were interested in comparing men’s and women’s Beanpot history.

Methodology

We compiled historical men’s and women’s championship data from TD Garden archives and Women’s Beanpot records. After cleaning and standardizing the data on champions and runner-ups, we leveraged Python to visualize championship counts and winning streaks. 

Brief story behind the Beanpot

73 years of competition started with men’s ice hockey on December 26th, 1952 at the old Boston Arena, with fierce competition among Boston University, Boston College, Harvard University and Northeastern University. Bill Littlefield, former Host of National Public Radio, asked in his poem “No Beanpot?”, “Because without the Beanpot, how could anyone endure / The black ice and the bitter cold, and all the dirty snow / That's February's dreary portion everywhere you go?” The poem epitomizes the significance of sports in Boston and the community they bring. Later in 1979, the tournament expanded to women’s ice hockey, when the Northeastern Huskies won the championship. Women’s Beanpot had been organized at college campus arenas before moving to TD Garden in 2024.

Findings and Analysis

Figure 1

From 1952 until now, except for 2021 when it was cancelled due to Covid-19, the same four teams have competed for the championship. In 73 seasons, the Boston University Terriers hold the most Beanpot Championships, having won 32 times. The Boston College Eagles sit in second place.

Figure 2

Curious to see how Men’s and Women’s championships differ in result for each college, we graphed each college’s share of total Beanpot titles for both the Men’s and Women’s annual tournaments. As Figure 2 shows, Northeastern University has proved themselves as the distinct champions over the years in women’s Beanpot while 32 (43%) of the total 73 Men’s Beanpot seasons were won by Boston University.

Figure 3

Remaining champions for consecutive years is hard, given the Beanpot’s fierce competition.

As coaches and teams often see winning the Beanpot as indicating a great start to the season, teams approach the Beanpot with great determination. As of 2026, Boston University has the longest winning streak of six years, from 1995 to 2000, with their first Beanpot title in 1995 coinciding with their fourth national championship win (BU GoTerriers). The consistency of champions over a long period of time signals a stable strength rather than a single-era of peak performance.

Conclusion

The Beanpot has been what ice hockey fans from not only Boston, but around the country, look forward to. Over the past seven decades, the tournament has shown a sense of identity and connection beyond just a competition. Every year, alumni, students, and the teams gather to stay connected to the city where they belong.

Unanswered Possible Questions:

In the future, we hope to explore what makes teams perform the best, especially as it relates to the difference between men’s and women’s performance and winning streaks for each college. Is success due to a specific coaching team? Was there a particular player during the time of higher performance? What is the overall growth for each college? Finally, asking questions like “How many players have continued their journey to compete at the National Hockey League from Boston?” will help us better understand the significance of the annual Beanpot tournament.