Reviewing Men’s NCAA Hockey Tournament Odds Before Games Begin
Things get going at noon Thursday
The NCAA men’s college hockey tournament opens play Thursday at 12 p.m. ET. There will be four first-round games Thursday followed by four Friday, with winners advancing to quarterfinals scheduled for Sunday.
It’s all part of the road to the Frozen Four, the national semifinals and championship. Those games are scheduled for April 7 and April 9 at TD Garden.
A number of local teams received bids to the tournament. Massachusetts, the defending champions, advanced as an automatic qualifier after knocking off UConn in the Hockey East Championship. Northeastern and UMass Lowell earned at-large bids out of the conference, while Quinnipiac, Harvard — the ECAC auto-qualifier — and American International (the Atlantic Hockey auto-qualifier) also will be participants.
Michigan is the heavy favorite at +275, via DraftKings Sportsbook. A $100 bet on the top-seeded Wolverines would profit $275.
Here are the latest odds, via DraftKings:
Michigan +275
Minnesota State +400
Minnesota Duluth +700
Denver +700
Western Michigan +800
North Dakota +900
Minnesota +1000
Saint Cloud State +1200
Quinnipiac +1500
Notre Dame +2000
Massachusetts +2500
Northeastern +3000
Michigan Tech +4000
Harvard +5000
UMass Lowell +5000
American International +5000
The first game of the tournament is between Minnesota State and Harvard at 12 p.m. on Thursday. The Crimson are underdogs at +320 on the moneyline (+2.5).
