State of the NCAA Hockey belt
Updated October 3, 2026The belt tree
Every way the next four belt games can go.
Who holds it after each game
| Team | After game 1 | After game 2 | After game 3 | After game 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denver | 80% | 47% | 47% | 43% |
| Michigan | — | 50% | 50% | 26% |
| Boston College | — | — | — | 15% |
| Western Michigan | — | — | — | 14% |
| Lake Superior State | — | — | — | 1% |
| Alaska Anchorage | 20% | 3% | 3% | 1% |
Who holds it when the regular season ends
We played out the rest of the schedule on file (November 14, 2026 is the last game) 4,000 times, passing the belt game by game with Elo win chances. Denver keeps it to the end in 15.8% of runs. 25 teams finish with it at least 1% of the time.
| # | Team | Share | Chance | Elo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Denver | 15.8% | 1654 | |
| 2 | Arizona State | 11.7% | 1507 | |
| 3 | Michigan | 10.1% | 1641 | |
| 4 | Wisconsin | 6.0% | 1578 | |
| 5 | Boston College | 5.1% | 1568 | |
| 6 | Western Michigan | 4.2% | 1635 | |
| 7 | North Dakota | 4.2% | 1619 | |
| 8 | Penn State | 4.0% | 1557 | |
| 9 | Lindenwood | 3.9% | 1434 | |
| 10 | St. Thomas | 3.7% | 1538 | |
| 11 | UMass | 3.7% | 1560 | |
| 12 | Ohio State | 3.2% | 1521 | |
| 13 | Miami (OH) | 2.5% | 1459 | |
| 14 | Minnesota Duluth | 2.5% | 1563 | |
| 15 | Omaha | 2.3% | 1476 | |
| 16 | UConn | 2.2% | 1566 | |
| 17 | Holy Cross | 1.8% | 1475 | |
| 18 | St. Cloud State | 1.8% | 1501 | |
| 19 | LIU | 1.7% | 1449 | |
| 20 | Maine | 1.6% | 1569 | |
| 21 | Niagara | 1.5% | 1419 | |
| 22 | Robert Morris | 1.4% | 1447 | |
| 23 | Colorado College | 1.4% | 1525 | |
| 24 | Vermont | 1.3% | 1453 | |
| 25 | Northeastern | 1.1% | 1517 |
Elo power ranking
| # | Team | Elo |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Denver Holder | 1654 |
| 2 | Michigan | 1641 |
| 3 | Western Michigan | 1635 |
| 4 | Michigan State | 1628 |
| 5 | North Dakota | 1619 |
| 6 | Quinnipiac | 1590 |
| 7 | Providence | 1590 |
| 8 | Wisconsin | 1578 |
| 9 | Maine | 1569 |
| 10 | Boston College | 1568 |
| 11 | UConn | 1566 |
| 12 | Dartmouth | 1566 |
| 13 | Boston University | 1563 |
| 14 | Minnesota Duluth | 1563 |
| 15 | UMass | 1560 |
| 16 | Cornell | 1558 |
How the numbers work
Every team gets an Elo rating built from every game in the record, not just belt games. Wins against good teams count more; bigger margins count a little more in football and basketball. Home teams get a bump worth about 50 rating points, and between seasons each rating slides a third of the way back toward average.
The chance to defend comes straight from the two ratings. The outlook plays the rest of the schedule thousands of times. They're honest rough odds, not betting lines.