| 1976 CIAU University Cup | |
| Venues: | Varsity Arena, Toronto, Ontario |
| Winners: | Toronto Varsity Blues |
| Count: | 8 |
| Second: | Guelph Gryphons |
| Dates: | March 5–14 |
| Games: | 11 |
| Num Teams: | 10 |
| Award Title: | MVP |
| Award: | Kent Ruhnke (Toronto) |
| Prev Season: | 1975 |
| Next Season: | 1977 |
The 1976 CIAU Men's University Cup Hockey Tournament (14th annual) was held at the Varsity Arena in Toronto, Ontario. The Toronto Varsity Blues served as tournament host.
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
| Seed | School | Standings |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manitoba | 11–7–0 |
| 2 | Brandon | 10–8–0 |
| 3 | Lakehead | 8–10–0 |
| 4 | Winnipeg | 7–11–0 |
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
The tournament was expanded and heavily reconfigured. The field was divided into three groups: East, West and byes. The OUAA champion, Guelph, and the tournament host, Toronto, received byes into championship round. The Eastern bracket contained the teams that reached the championship games of the AUAA and QUAA while the Western bracket contained the teams that reached the championship game of Canada West and the top two teams in the GPAC standings. The regional brackets were organized so that the conference champion would play the runner up of the opposite conference in the semifinal and the winners would play to determine which teams would advance to the championship round.
In the championship round, the teams played one first round game to determine seeding. The winners of the first round game would then play a different losing team in the semifinals. The winner of the semifinal games would then play for the championship.
All rounds, with the exception of the first round in the championship series, were single elimination.
West regional games were played at the Father David Bauer Olympic Arena in Calgary, Alberta. East regional games were played at the Loyola Arena in Montreal, Quebec.
| Team | Qualification | Record | Appearance | Last | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quebec: QUAA Champion | 23–0–1 | 1st | Never * | ||
| Quebec: QUAA Runner-Up | 10–14–1 | 1st | Never | ||
| Atlantic: AUAA Runner-Up | 12–5–1 | 1st | Never | ||
| Atlantic: AUAA Champion | 14–4–0 | 5th | 1968 |
| Team | Qualification | Record | Appearance | Last | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ontario: OUAA Champion | 17–6–0 | 1st | Never | ||
| Host | 14–4–0 | 10th | 1975 |
| Team | Qualification | Record | Appearance | Last | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West: Canada West Runner-Up | 16–10–0 | 9th | 1975 | ||
| Plains: GPAC Runner-Up | 10–8–0 | 3rd | 1975 | ||
| West: Canada West Champion | 19–7–0 | 2nd | 1974 | ||
| Plains: GPAC Champion | 11–7–0 | 2nd | 1965 |
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)[1]