1988 CIAU University Cup
The 1988 CIAU Men's University Cup Hockey Tournament was held at the Varsity Arena in Toronto, Ontario. The Toronto Varsity Blues served as tournament host.
Road to the Cup
[AUAA men's [ice hockey tournament#1988|AUAA playoffs]]
Note: * denotes overtime periodOUAA playoffs">OUAA men's ice hockey tournament">OUAA playoffs
‡ Western Ontario advanced due to having the most regular season points of the Division Final losers.Note: * denotes overtime period
Canada West playoffs">Canada West men's ice hockey tournament">Canada West playoffs
Note: * denotes overtime periodUniversity Cup
Due to the collapse of the QUAA's ice hockey division, only three conferences were playing senior college hockey. The selection committee set a new policy by making four regional spots available for tournament play: Atlantic, Ontario, Quebec and West. Because the OUAA possessed more teams than the other two conferences combined, and was the only one that possessed teams from Quebec, the OUAA champion and runner-up would split the Ontario and Quebec bids. Part of this arrangement was the elimination of the automatic bid for the host team. This was made possible by Toronto accepting the responsibilities of hosting the tournament for ten years.The bracket was arranged so that the Atlantic entry played the Quebec entry while the Ontario entry played the Western entry in the semifinals. All rounds were single elimination.
| Team | Qualification | Record | Appearance | Last |
| [Calgary Dinos men's ice hockey|] | West: Canada West Champion | 27–6–0 | 6th | 1986 |
| [UPEI Panthers men's ice hockey|] | Atlantic: AUAA Champion | 24–3–2 | 3rd | 1987 |
| [Western Mustangs men's ice hockey|] | Quebec: OUAA Runner-up | 20–7–5 | 2nd | 1987 |
| [York Lions men's ice hockey|] | Ontario: OUAA Champion | 26–1–5 | 5th | 1987 |