With the relaxing of the prior eligibility rules, it’s no secret that a ton of high-end prospects have migrated to the NCAA ranks, and the Calgary Flames are a good example of (a) how many strong players have moved to the college and (b) how competitive the upcoming college season could be.

The fine folks at USCHO conducted their annual pre-season polling to determine their initial top 20 ranking of college teams, as they do each season. The reigning national champions, Western Michigan, topped the list at number one, as you would expect.

But behind Western Michigan, seven different teams featuring Flames prospects slotted into their top 20 – heck, they were all in the top 14:

Not cracking the top 20 were a pair of teams with Flames prospects: Merrimack College (Trevor Hoskin) and Harvard (Aidan Lane).

Potter, Littler and Hoskin were all in college last season, with Potter suiting up for Arizona State, Littler playing at North Dakota and Hoskin doing so at Niagara University – Hoskin transferred to Merrimack College during this past off-season.

But the other seven Flames prospects all migrated to the NCAA ranks for 2025-26 from other levels of hockey. Wyttenbach and Lane were destined for college prior to the NCAA’s eligibility relaxation, with Wyttenbach playing in the USHL and Lane in Canadian prep school, both traditional conduits to college. But Jamieson, Misa, Lipinski, Reschny and Mews all committed to pursue collegiate athletics following the rules changing to allow players from Canadian major junior to make that move, part of a large migration of talent to that level of hockey.

With so many new faces in college this coming season, we expect the various national rankings to be pretty chaotic over this coming season. The various NCAA conferences all start getting their seasons going in early October: Potter, the 32nd overall pick in 2025, begins his sophomore year at Arizona State on Oct. 3 against Misa and Penn State, while Reschny, the 18th overall pick in 2025, makes his NCAA debut on Oct. 10 when the Fighting Hawks face St. Thomas.

Think you’ve got what it takes to outlast everyone else? Test your hockey smarts in the Daily Faceoff Survivor Pool — a high-stakes game of elimination with a $2,500 grand prize for the last fan standing. The contest continues until there’s only one survivor — and that winner takes it all. Are you ready to survive? Sign up now and make your picks!