The 2012 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament involved sixteen schools in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey for the 2011âÂÂ12 season. The tournament began on March 23, 2012, with regional semifinals and ended on April 7 with the national championship game. The Boston College Eagles won their third national championship in five years, beating the Ferris State Bulldogs, 4âÂÂ1, in the championship game. BC won nineteen consecutive games to end the season. It is the fifth title for both the program and the last under head coach Jerry York â York previously coached Bowling Green to a championship in 1984. and retired in 2022.
This year's tournament marked the last of 22 consecutive years of playoff berths, a tournament record, for Michigan, following their defeat in the Midwest Regional Semifinals versus Cornell. They would not appear in the tournament again until 2016.
This year's Frozen Four featured multiple teams, Ferris State and Union, making their first appearance. This last occurred in 2009, when Bemidji State and Miami both made their first Frozen Four appearances.
The four regionals are officially named after their geographic areas. The following are the sites for the 2012 regionals:
Each regional winner will advance to the Frozen Four:
The at-large bids and seeding for each team in the tournament were announced on March 18. The Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) had five teams receive a berth in the tournament, the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) and Hockey East had four teams receive a berth, ECAC Hockey had two teams receive a berth, and Atlantic Hockey had one team receive a berth.
<small>Number in parentheses denotes overall seed in the tournament.</small>
<small>Note: * denotes overtime period(s)</small><br/> <small>All times are local (UTCâÂÂ4).</small>
<small>Note: * denotes overtime period(s)</small><br/> <small>All times are local (UTCâÂÂ5).</small>
<small>Note: * denotes overtime period(s)</small><br/> <small>All times are local (UTCâÂÂ4).</small>
<small>Note: * denotes overtime period(s)</small><br/> <small>All times are local (UTCâÂÂ5).</small>
ESPN had US television rights to all games during the tournament. For the eighth consecutive year ESPN aired every game, beginning with the regionals, on ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU, and ESPN3. They also streamed them online via WatchESPN.
Regionals
Frozen Four & Championship
Dial Global Sports used exclusive radio rights to air both the semifinals and the championship, AKA the "Frozen Four."
<nowiki>*</nowiki> Most Outstanding Player(s)