One of the most chaotic tournaments in sports is about to get underway.

On Sunday afternoon, the NCAA released the bracket for its men’s hockey national championship tournament. The tournament features 16 teams from across six conferences. And most importantly, there are eight Flames prospects – representing six college teams – participating in the festivities.

Here’s a rundown of who’s chasing a national title over the next few weeks.

North Dakota was eliminated by Minnesota-Duluth in the NCHC conference semi-final round, but qualified for the national tournament as an at-large invite. They’re the top seed in the Sioux Falls region and will open against Merrimack.

Reschny, 18, is a left-shot centre who was a first-round pick by the Flames, 18th overall, in the 2025 NHL Draft. He’s in his freshman season with North Dakota and has 5 goals and 29 points for 34 points through 33 games. (He also captured a bronze medal with Canada at the World Juniors.) He was named to the NCHC All-Rookie Team and was their Rookie of the Year, too.

Littler, 21, is a right shot forward (playing centre and wing) who was a seventh-round pick by the Flames, 219th overall, in the 2022 NHL Draft. He’s in his sophomore season with North Dakota and has 5 goals and 8 assists for 13 points through 33 games.

Wiebe, 22, is a left shot defenceman who was a seventh-round pick by the Vegas Golden Knights, 209th overall, in the 2022 NHL Draft. He was traded to the Flames in the Rasmus Andersson trade. He’s in his junior season with North Dakota and has 5 goals and 22 assists for 27 points through 7 games. He was named to the NCHC Second All-Star Team.

Denver qualified as the winner of the NCHC conference playoff tournament. They’re in the Loveland region and opening against Cornell.

Jamieson, 20, is a left shot defenceman who was a sixth-round pick by the Flames, 177th overall, in the 2024 NHL Draft. He’s in his freshman season with Denver and has 7 goals and 9 assists for 16 points through 38 games. He was named to the NCHC All-Rookie Team.

Penn State was eliminated by Michigan in the Big 10 conference semi-final round, but qualified for the national tournament as an at-large invite. They’re in the Albany region, opening against Minnesota-Duluth.

Misa, 20, is a left shot centre who was a fifth-round pick by the Flames, 150th overall, in the 2024 NHL Draft. He’s in his freshman season with Penn State and has 8 goals and 11 assists for 19 points through 36 games.

Quinnipiac was eliminated by Clarkson in the ECAC conference quarterfinal round, but qualified for the national tournament as an at-large invite. They’re in the Sioux Falls region and open against Providence.

Wyttenbach, 19, is a right shot winger who was a fifth-round pick, 144th overall, in the 2025 NHL Draft. He’s in his freshman season with Quinnipiac and has 24 goals and 34 assists for 58 points through 38 games. He was named to the ECAC All-Rookie Team and First All-Star Team, was their Rookie of the Year, and was named a top 10 finalist for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award. He’s currently the NCAA’s leading scorer.

Cornell was eliminated by Princeton in the ECAC conference semi-final round, but qualified for the national tournament as an at-large invite. They’re in the Loveland region and opening against Denver.

Castagna, 20, is a right shot centre who was a third-round pick, 70th overall, in the 2023 NHL Draft. He’s in his junior season with Cornell and has 15 goals and 19 assists for 34 points in 33 games. He was named to the ECAC First All-Star Team and was their Defensive Forward of the Year.

Merrimack qualified as the winner of the Hockey East conference playoff tournament. They’re in the Sioux Falls region and open against North Dakota.

Hoskin, 21, is a right shot winger who was a fourth-round pick, 106th overall, in the 2024 NHL Draft. He’s in his sophomore season with Merrimack and has 13 goals and 22 assists for 35 points in 33 games.

(And let’s not forget Henry Mews at Michigan; Mews has recently started skating again after having knee surgery earlier this season and the folks at Michigan had him on the bench as they won the Big 10 playoff tournament. He would’ve made it nine prospects in the national tournament.)

In recent years, it’s been fairly common to have one or two Flames prospects in the national tournament – case in point, they had Arsenii Sergeev and Aydar Suniev involved in 2025. But this is a huge jump in quantity, arguably without sacrificing quality.

(All games are on TSN+)

On Thursday, Quinnipiac (Wyttenbach) faces Providence at 3 p.m. MT. Later, North Dakota (Reschny/Littler/Wiebe) face Merrimack (Hoskin) at 6:30 p.m. MT.

On Friday, Denver (Jamieson) faces Cornell (Castagna) at 4 p,m. MT. Later, Penn State (Misa) faces Minnesota-Duluth at 7 p.m. MT.

The regional finals for each bracket are on Saturday and Sunday. The four winning teams, one from each region, move on to the NCAA’s Frozen Four in Las Vegas on Apr. 9 and 11.