NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament

In setting up the tournament, the Championship Committee seeks to ensure "competitive equity, financial success and likelihood of playoff-type atmosphere at each regional site." A team serving as the host of a regional is placed within that regional. The top four teams are assigned overall seeds and placed within the bracket such that the national semifinals will feature the No. 1 seed versus the No. 4 seed and the No. 2 seed versus the No. 3 seed should the top four teams win their respective regional finals. Number 1 seeds are also placed as close to their home site as possible, with the No. 1 seed receiving first preference. Conference matchups are avoided in the first round; should five or more teams from one conference make the tournament, this guideline may be disregarded in favor of preserving the bracket's integrity.

The code in each cell represents the furthest the team made it in the respective tournament:

•  •  First round (12 teams starting in 1988, 16 teams starting in 2003)
•  QF  Quarterfinals (1 or 2 teams starting in 1977, 4 teams starting in 1980)
•  F4  Frozen Four
•  RU  National Runner-up
•  CH  National Champion
•  RU   •  The team achieved the placement shown, but the participation was later vacated. These vacated appearances are not included in the total columns.

Starting in 2003, the 4 teams seeded No. 1 in the regions are shown with single underline.