Tournament Bracket Generator
Paste your entrants, choose single elimination, double elimination or round robin, and get a printable bracket or schedule with standard seeding, byes for the top seeds and a blank standings sheet. List the entrants in seed order or use a random draw. Free, no sign-up.
List them in seed order, strongest first, or choose a random draw. Up to 64 entrants (32 for a round robin).
Your bracket
6 entrants, a bracket of 8, 5 matches. With 2 byes, seeds 1 to 2 skip the first round.
Quarterfinals
Match W1-1
4. Wolves
5. Eagles
Match W1-2
3. Bears
6. Hawks
Semifinals
Match W2-1
1. Lions
Winner of W1-1
Match W2-2
2. Tigers
Winner of W1-2
Final
Match W3-1
Winner of W2-1
Winner of W2-2
How to Use the Tournament Bracket Generator
- 1. Enter the entrants. One per line — people, teams, books, anything that needs a head-to-head order. Up to 64 for elimination brackets and 32 for a round robin.
- 2. Choose the format. Single elimination knocks out the loser of each match. Double elimination knocks you out after a second loss. Round robin has everyone play everyone.
- 3. Choose the seeding. As listed treats your first line as seed 1, the second as seed 2 and so on. Random draw shuffles the list for you, and Draw again shuffles it again.
- 4. Check the summary. It states the bracket size, the number of matches and how many byes there are.
- 5. Print. Press Print to print the bracket on its own; the controls are left off the page. Add a tournament name to put a title above it.
Which Format to Choose
| Format | Matches for N entrants | Strength | Weakness |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single elimination | N − 1 | Fast and simple; every match matters | One bad match ends your tournament |
| Double elimination | 2N − 2, plus a possible reset final | A single loss is not fatal; the strongest entrant usually wins | Roughly twice as many matches; harder to read |
| Round robin | N × (N − 1) ÷ 2 | Everyone plays everyone; the fairest ranking | The number of matches grows with the square of N |
What the tool shows for some sizes
6 entrants, single elimination: a bracket of 8, 2 byes, 5 matches.
8 entrants, double elimination: 14 matches, then a reset final if the losers’ side entrant wins the grand final.
6 entrants, round robin: 5 rounds and 15 matches.
5 entrants, round robin: 5 rounds of 2 matches and one team resting, 10 matches in all.
How Standard Seeding Works
Standard seeding rewards strength and delays the strongest rivals. In a bracket of 16, the first-round pairs are 1 v 16, 8 v 9, 4 v 13, 5 v 12, 2 v 15, 7 v 10, 3 v 14 and 6 v 11. Each pair adds up to 17, one more than the size of the bracket, and the pairs are arranged so that seeds 1 and 2 can meet only in the final, seeds 1 to 4 only in the semifinals, and so on. If every favourite wins, the quarterfinals are 1 v 8, 4 v 5, 2 v 7 and 3 v 6.
Brackets come in sizes of 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 and 64. When the number of entrants is not one of those, the missing places are byes, and the top seeds receive them. Six entrants in a bracket of eight give byes to seeds 1 and 2, who skip round one and start in the quarterfinals. A bye means advancing without playing, which some organisers think unfair to the other entrants; a play-in round before the main bracket is the usual alternative. The tool shows the byes and leaves that choice to you.
Double Elimination
Double elimination runs two brackets. The winners’ bracket is the single-elimination bracket; the loser of each match drops into the losers’ bracket, where a loss ends the tournament. The winner of each bracket meets in the grand final. Because the winners’ bracket champion has not yet lost, the losers’ bracket champion must win twice: if they win the grand final, the convention is to play it again. The tool marks matches by id (W2-1, L3-1) so each slot can say Winner of W1-2 or Loser of W2-1. With byes, the losers’ bracket skips matches that would have had only one entrant.
Round Robin Schedules
The schedule uses the circle method: one team stays fixed, the others sit around a circle, opposite positions play each other, and the circle turns by one place each round. With an even number of teams that gives N − 1 rounds in which every team plays every other once. With an odd number, one team rests each round, so there are N rounds. Home and away are given to whichever team has had fewer home games, which keeps the totals within one of each other for an even number of teams. Choose twice for a home-and-away schedule, which repeats every round with the sides reversed. The blank standings sheet leaves columns for played, won, drawn, lost and points; agree the points and the tie-break rules, such as head-to-head, before play starts.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How do I make a tournament bracket for a number of teams that isn’t a power of two?
- Enter them as they are. The tool rounds the bracket up to the next size and gives the missing places to byes, which go to the top seeds. Seven teams give a bracket of 8 with one bye for seed 1.
- How many matches are in a single or double elimination tournament?
- A single elimination tournament has one fewer match than it has entrants, because every match eliminates exactly one. A double elimination tournament has 2N − 2, since each entrant but the champion is eliminated after two losses, and one more if the grand final is replayed.
- How many rounds does a round robin need?
- With an even number of teams, N − 1 rounds. With an odd number, N rounds, because one team rests each time. A double round robin has twice as many.
- What does seeding mean?
- Ranking the entrants before the draw — by rating, last year’s result or a qualifying round — and arranging the bracket so that the highest seeds meet as late as possible. Without seeding, strong entrants can meet early and the final is less likely to be the best match.
- Can I randomise the draw?
- Yes. Choose Random draw and the entrants are shuffled with an unbiased shuffle, then seeded in the new order. Press Draw again for another. Use it when there is no ranking, such as a classroom or office tournament.
- How do I print the bracket?
- Press Print or use your browser’s print command. Only the bracket or schedule is printed, not the controls. Landscape orientation suits large brackets; use Fit to page if your browser offers it.
- Is anything saved or uploaded?
- No. The entrants and the bracket stay in your browser, and nothing is stored when you close the page. Print or copy what you need before leaving.