The competition started its new season on August 9, 1997 and ended on December 7, 1997. The championship was organized by the national association CBF . At the end of the season, America Mineiro was able to celebrate the championship.
The competition was held in four phases. The first round consisted of five groups of five clubs each. The three best in a group advanced to the second round. Furthermore, the best fourth placed of all groups came into the second round. In the second round , the sixteen clubs met in a knockout round. In this, the clubs met three times. The third round with the eight winners again played in group mode. The two best qualified for the final round, in which the group mode was played again.
The group winner of the final round became champions. This and the group runner-up rose to the first division in 1998 . The worst clubs in each group from the first round were relegated to the third division.
In the first round, the 25 participants competed in five groups of five clubs against each other once in a return game. The best three clubs in each group and the best fourth in the group made it to the second round.
The first-mentioned team in the pairings had home rights first. The other two games were played at the second-named one. The team that scored five points first moved on to the next round.
The final round was decided on the last group match day, December 7, 1997. Three of the four clubs still had the opportunity to become champions.
After the AA Ponte Preta lost their first game in the final round against Náutico Capibaribe 3-0, the club changed their coach. The club hired former world champion Pepe for the remaining five games .
The table was used to determine the placement of the individual teams in the season. At times it was used by the association to determine an eternal ranking list. It is made up of all the games played. In the sorting, reaching the respective final phase has priority over the points scored.
Alagoas
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Brasília
Ceará
Espírito Santo
Goiás
Maranhão
Minas Gerais
Pará
Paraná
Pernambuco
Rio de Janeiro
Rio Grande do Norte
Santa Catarina
São Paulo
Sergipe
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), Júnior, Ricardo, Marcos Paulo - Pintado , Taú, Irênio , Tupãzinho - Celso (Vanderlei 
Júnior, Marcos Paulo, Celso
