# 1978 WCHA men's ice hockey tournament

The 1978 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 19th conference playoff in league history. The tournament was played between March 10 and March 15, 1978. All games were played at home team campus sites, including each of the two regional final series. By winning the regional tournaments, both Wisconsin and Colorado College were invited to participate in the 1978 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
Though not official designations, Wisconsin is considered as the East Regional Champion† and Colorado College as the West Regional Champion‡.

## Format

The top eight teams in the WCHA, according to their final conference standings, were eligible for the tournament and were seeded No. 1 through No. 8. In the first round the first and eighth seeds, the second and seventh seeds, the third and sixth seeds and the fourth and fifth seeds were matched in two-game series where the school that scored the higher number of goals was declared the winner. After the first round the remaining teams were reseeded No. 1 through No. 4 according to their final conference standings and advanced to the second round. In the second round the first and fourth seeds and the second and third seeds competed in an additional two-game, total goal series with the winners of each being declared as co-conference champions.

### Conference standings

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; PTS = Points; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against
1977–78 Western Collegiate Hockey Association standingsvte :
| | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall |
| | GP | W | L | T | PTS | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| Denver† | 32 | 27 | 5 | 0 | 54 | 192 | 112 | 40 | 33 | 6 | 1 | 235 | 140 |
| Wisconsin* | 32 | 21 | 9 | 2 | 44 | 127 | 113 | 43 | 28 | 12 | 3 | 214 | 149 |
| Michigan Tech | 32 | 21 | 11 | 0 | 42 | 150 | 123 | 40 | 25 | 14 | 1 | 184 | 157 |
| Minnesota | 32 | 18 | 13 | 1 | 37 | 143 | 134 | 38 | 22 | 14 | 2 | 171 | 150 |
| Colorado College* | 32 | 13 | 19 | 0 | 26 | 162 | 172 | 41 | 18 | 22 | 1 | 212 | 218 |
| North Dakota | 32 | 13 | 19 | 0 | 26 | 146 | 167 | 38 | 15 | 22 | 1 | 172 | 192 |
| Minnesota-Duluth | 32 | 12 | 19 | 1 | 25 | 135 | 155 | 37 | 14 | 22 | 1 | 155 | 182 |
| Notre Dame | 32 | 12 | 19 | 1 | 25 | 117 | 147 | 38 | 12 | 24 | 2 | 137 | 186 |
| Michigan | 32 | 12 | 19 | 1 | 25 | 149 | 175 | 36 | 15 | 20 | 1 | 169 | 192 |
| Michigan State | 32 | 7 | 23 | 2 | 16 | 119 | 182 | 36 | 7 | 27 | 2 | 130 | 201 |
| Championship: Wisconsin, Colorado College † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion |||||||||||||||

## Bracket

Teams are reseeded after the first round
| First Round March 10–11 | First Round March 10–11 | First Round March 10–11 | First Round March 10–11 | Second Round March 14–15 | Second Round March 14–15 | Second Round March 14–15 | Second Round March 14–15 |
| 1 | Denver | 6 | 7 | | | | |
| 8 | Notre Dame | 6 | 1 | | | | |
| 8 | Notre Dame | 6 | 1 | 1 | Denver | 3 | 4 |
| | | | | 5 | Colorado College | 6 | 3 |
| 2 | Wisconsin | 9 | 5 | 5 | Colorado College | 6 | 3 |
| 7 | Minnesota-Duluth | 2 | 4 | | | | |
| 3 | Michigan Tech | 2 | 3* | | | | |
| 6 | North Dakota | 2 | 2 | | | | |
| 6 | North Dakota | 2 | 2 | 2 | Wisconsin | 4 | 7 |
| | | | | 3 | Michigan Tech | 3 | 4 |
| 4 | Minnesota | 3 | 4 | 3 | Michigan Tech | 3 | 4 |
| 5 | Colorado College | 3 | 5 | | | | |
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

### First round
#### (1) Denver vs. (8) Notre Dame

* Denver won series 13–7

#### (2) Wisconsin vs. (7) Minnesota-Duluth

* Wisconsin won series 14–6

#### (3) Michigan Tech vs. (6) North Dakota

* Michigan Tech won series 5–4

#### (4) Minnesota vs. (5) Colorado College

* Colorado College won series 8–7

### Second round
#### (1) Denver vs. (5) Colorado College

* Colorado College won series 9–7

#### (2) Wisconsin vs. (3) Michigan Tech

* Wisconsin won series 11–7

## Tournament awards

None