Teams: (1) Victory Honda, (10) NJ Avalanche, (3) Team Wisconsin and (NR) San Jose Jr. Sharks

Projected to Advance: Victory Honda and Team WI

Players to Watch: Jason Polin - Victory Honda (Western Michigan), Steven Agriogianis - NJ Avalanche (Penn State), Jordan Seyfert - NJ Avalance (Merrimack), Ty Emberson - Team Wisconsin (Uncommitted) and Brock Caufield - Team Wisconsin (Ohio State). 

Team Wisconsin passes the eye test...they are big and fast and very well coached. Can they compete with teams that have been together all season and belong to one another? New Jersey has won a lot (74 times to be exact), including the Tier 1 Elite playoffs in Blaine in February. Victory is number one for a reason, they have team speed and great goaltending.

Teams: (5) Detroit Honeybaked, (6) CO Thunderbirds, (17) LA Jr. Kings and (35) Team North Dakota

Projected to Advance: Honeybaked and Thunderbirds

Players to Watch: Jagger Joshua - Honeybaked (Michigan State), Calen Kiefiuk - Honeybaked, Jonny Gruden - Honeybaked  (Miami of Ohio), Baker Shore - Colorado Thunderbirds (Denver), Nolan Foote - Colorado Thunderbirds (Uncommitted) and Braden Costello - Team North Dakota (Uncommitted) and Cole Gutmann - LA Jr. Kings (Uncommitted)

Pool B is a great pool with two clear cut teams on paper headed to bracket play - Honeybaked and Colorado. That said, they can't look past the Kings or Team NoDak. NoDak has a big roster and some skill players who played big roles on their high school teams this year and LA has some big wins of the 49 they posted this year. The Kings beat Belle Tire, NJ Avs and the Dallas Stars - not a fun team to face. Honeybaked has been a top ten team all year, laced with a nice balance of '99 and '00 talent the Hams are one of a few teams that could win it all. The T-Birds are lead by Angelo Ricci, one of the best coaches in the country. They are lead by Baker Shore, Nolan Foote and Colby Bukes.

Teams: (12) Yale Bulldogs, (21) Carolina Jr. Hurricanes, (2) Chicago Mission and (28) Syracuse Stars

Projected to Advance: Yale and Mission

Players to Watch: Brady Smith - Chicago Mission (Wisconsin), Jacob Pivonka - Chicago Mission (Notre Dame), Jack Randl -Chicago Mission (Michigan), Bode Wilde - Chicago Mission (Harvard), Skyler Brind'Amour - Carolina (Uncommitted), Jack DeBoer - Yale (Boston University), Tyler Madden - Yale (Colorado College), Tyce Thompson - Yale (Providence), Richard Pichura - Syracuse (Uncommitted) and Zach Taylor - Syracuse (Uncommitted.

Pool C is the mystery pool. Yale is a before and after team composed of a highly skilled group of New England prep stars. Syracuse plays a 30 game USPHL schedule and doesn't see many teams in the main stream of Tier 1. Carolina is a solid team that we saw a few times this year...they have some impressive wins and are a real threat to advance to the final eight. Chicago is a team loaded with future division one talent. Can the mostly 2000 birth year team overcome the age difference and win Nationals? There will be no surprises out of this pool.

Teams: (7) Little Caesars, (4) Shattuck-St. Mary's, (19) Cape Cod Whalers and (26) Culver Academy

Projected to Advance: Little Caesars and Shattuck-St. Mary's

Players to Watch: Dustin Manz - Little Caesars (Lake Superior State), Chase Pilawski - Little Caesars (Lake Superior State), Connor McMenamin - Shattuck-St. Mary's (Uncommitted), Jack Robbel - Shattuck-St. Mary's (Uncommitted), Jay O'Brien - Cape Cod (Providence) and Jack Rathbone (Harvard). 

The D pool has two mainstays in the top ten all year, Shattuck and Little Caesars. Culver came on strong at the end and earned their way to San Jose and Cape Cod did the same in Massachusetts. Caesars is the type of team that has great speed and mental toughness. They are like a chameleon, no matter what you throw at them, they have an answer. Shattuck has a deep roster with a few high end goal scorers in McMenamin and Bobby Trevigno. They have great depth on the blue line and two great goalies. A great formula for a national title. Cape Cod is similar to Yale, a nice collection of talented prep schoolers who play before and after. They will challenge both Little Caesars and SSM this weekend.