It was held between March 16 and 18, 1972, and concluded with Boston University defeating Cornell 4–0.
Four teams qualified for the tournament, two each from the eastern and western regions.
An at-large bid was offered to a second eastern team based upon both their ECAC tournament finish as well as their regular season record.
[1] The ECAC champion was seeded as the top eastern team while the WCHA co-champion with the better regular season record was given the top western seed.
All matches were Single-game eliminations with the semifinal winners advancing to the national championship game and the losers playing in a consolation game.