It was held between March 16 and 24, 1984, and concluded with Bowling Green defeating Minnesota-Duluth 5-4 in quadruple overtime.
All Quarterfinals matchups were held at home team venues, while all succeeding games were played at the 1980 Olympic Arena in Lake Placid, New York.
As of 2021 the final game is the longest match to determine a champion in NCAA history.
Each of the tournament champions from the three Division I conferences (CCHA, ECAC and WCHA) received automatic invitations into the tournament with At-large bids making up the remaining 5 teams, an additional 2 western and 3 eastern schools.
Beginning with the Semifinals all games were played at the 1980 Olympic Arena and all series became Single-game eliminations.