The Ranji Trophy, 1977-78 saw the participation of a number of 24 teams that came from all the parts of India. There were no new team in the championship and the teams that played in the tournament were the regular participants. The teams were divided into five different zones by the BCCI and they played against each other in the zonal system first and then went on to the knock out level of the tournament. The participating teams included the likes of Andhra, Assam, Baroda, Bengal, Bihar, Bombay, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Hyderabad, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Punjab, Railways, Rajasthan, Saurashtra, Services, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and the Vidarbha.

Ranji Trophy 1977-78, Central Zone League Matches: The Central Zone in the Ranji Trophy, 1977-78 was comprised of a number of 5 teams and the teams were coming from the Central region of India. The teams included the likes of Madhya Pradesh, Railways, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Vidarbha and they played against each other in the zonal level for becoming one of the toppers in the zone. Getting a place in the knock out level of the tournament was also the objective of the teams and the teams like Railways and Madhya Pradesh eventually became successful to achieve this aim. These two teams got the permission to play against the top teams of the other zones, in the knock out level of the tournament, for the championship title.

Ranji Trophy 1977-78, East Zone League Matches: The East Zone in the Ranji Trophy, 1977-78 saw no change in its team list, as all the regular four teams took part in this edition of the tournament. The teams included the likes of Assam, Orissa, Bengal and Bihar and they tried their best to secure a birth in the knock out level of the tournament by becoming one of the top two teams in the zone. However, the regular toppers of the zone, the Bengal and Bihar teams once again became the toppers in this edition and they also got the chance to compete against the top teams of the other zones in the knock out level of the tournament.

Ranji Trophy 1977-78, North Zone League Matches: There were a number of 5 teams played against each other in the North Zone of the Ranji Trophy, 1977-78. The teams were representing different states from the Northern region of India and they included the likes of Punjab, Delhi, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir and the Services. All the teams played well in the zonal level and vied for a birth in the knock out level of the tournament by getting into the top position in the zone. However, only the teams of Delhi and Haryana could do so from the zone and they also secured a birth in the knock out level of the tournament.

Ranji Trophy 1977-78, South Zone League Matches: The South Zone in the Ranji Trophy, 1977-78 saw the participation of all the regular 5 teams that had been participating in the tournament for the previous few editions. The teams included the likes of Karnataka, Kerala, Hyderabad, Andhra, and Tamil Nadu and they first played against each other in the zonal level for becoming one of the top two teams in the zone. The top two teams of the zone then proceeded towards the knock out level of the tournament for competing with the top teams of the other zones for the championship title. The teams like Karnataka and Hyderabad were the toppers in the South Zone and they played in the knock out level, as well.

Ranji Trophy 1977-78, West Zone League Matches: The West Zone in the Ranji Trophy, 1977-78 was comprised of 5 teams and all the teams were the regular participants in the tournament. The teams were representing the Western region of India in the tournament and they included the likes of Saurashtra, Maharashtra, Bombay, Gujarat and Baroda. The teams fought with each other very hard in the zonal level with an objective to become the topper in the zone and also to get a chance of entering into the knock out level of the tournament. However, the teams like Gujarat and Maharashtra became successful to do get a chance in the knock out level of the tournament from the West Zone.

Ranji Trophy 1977-78, Knock out Matches: The top two teams from each of the five zones got a promotion to the knock out level of the Ranji Trophy 1977-78. The ten teams that played against each other in the knock out matches of the Ranji Trophy 1977-78 included the likes of Bengal, Gujarat, Bihar, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Hyderabad, Karnataka and Delhi. They took part in the Pre-Quarter-Finals, Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals and Final match of the tournament. The only objective of all the teams while playing in the knock out level was to win the coveted championship title.