31 Team Double Elimination Bracket

A blank 31 team double elimination bracket: upper bracket, lower bracket, grand final and reset, 61 numbered games in all. Every lower bracket slot says which game its team drops from. Print it, or fill it in online.

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Blank 31 team double elimination bracket: upper and lower brackets, grand final and reset game, 61 numbered games

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How a 31 team double elimination bracket works

The upper bracket (winners bracket) is a normal 31 team single elimination bracket, so seed 1 gets a bye into round 2. It has 5 rounds and 30 games, and its winner reaches the grand final without a loss.

A team that loses in the upper bracket drops into the lower bracket (losers bracket). The lower bracket has 8 rounds and 29 games. Teams that lose later in the upper bracket join later in the lower bracket, and the drop order is reversed to make early rematches less likely. A loss in the lower bracket knocks a team out. The bracket image labels every drop, for example "Loser of G1".

The lower bracket winner has one loss and the upper bracket winner has none. They meet in the grand final (G60). If the lower bracket team wins, both teams have one loss, so a reset game (G61) decides the title. That is why a 31 team double elimination bracket has 60 games, or 61 with the reset.

Every team plays at least 2 games, because a team is only out after its second loss. The most any team can play is 11: a team that loses once in the upper bracket, wins the lower bracket, then wins the grand final and plays the reset.

For the rules that apply at every size, see how a double elimination bracket works.

Order of play

Every game in the bracket, numbered as on the printable sheet. Upper and lower bracket games can run side by side once the games that feed them are finished.

RoundGameMatchup
Upper round 1G1Seed 16 v Seed 17
G2Seed 8 v Seed 25
G3Seed 9 v Seed 24
G4Seed 4 v Seed 29
G5Seed 13 v Seed 20
G6Seed 5 v Seed 28
G7Seed 12 v Seed 21
G8Seed 2 v Seed 31
G9Seed 15 v Seed 18
G10Seed 7 v Seed 26
G11Seed 10 v Seed 23
G12Seed 3 v Seed 30
G13Seed 14 v Seed 19
G14Seed 6 v Seed 27
G15Seed 11 v Seed 22
Upper round 2G16Seed 1 v Winner of G1
G17Winner of G2 v Winner of G3
G18Winner of G4 v Winner of G5
G19Winner of G6 v Winner of G7
G20Winner of G8 v Winner of G9
G21Winner of G10 v Winner of G11
G22Winner of G12 v Winner of G13
G23Winner of G14 v Winner of G15
Upper round 3G24Winner of G16 v Winner of G17
G25Winner of G18 v Winner of G19
G26Winner of G20 v Winner of G21
G27Winner of G22 v Winner of G23
Upper round 4G28Winner of G24 v Winner of G25
G29Winner of G26 v Winner of G27
Upper finalG30Winner of G28 v Winner of G29
Lower round 1G31Loser of G2 v Loser of G3
G32Loser of G4 v Loser of G5
G33Loser of G6 v Loser of G7
G34Loser of G8 v Loser of G9
G35Loser of G10 v Loser of G11
G36Loser of G12 v Loser of G13
G37Loser of G14 v Loser of G15
Lower round 2G38Loser of G1 v Loser of G23
G39Winner of G31 v Loser of G22
G40Winner of G32 v Loser of G21
G41Winner of G33 v Loser of G20
G42Winner of G34 v Loser of G19
G43Winner of G35 v Loser of G18
G44Winner of G36 v Loser of G17
G45Winner of G37 v Loser of G16
Lower round 3G46Winner of G38 v Winner of G39
G47Winner of G40 v Winner of G41
G48Winner of G42 v Winner of G43
G49Winner of G44 v Winner of G45
Lower round 4G50Winner of G46 v Loser of G27
G51Winner of G47 v Loser of G26
G52Winner of G48 v Loser of G25
G53Winner of G49 v Loser of G24
Lower round 5G54Winner of G50 v Winner of G51
G55Winner of G52 v Winner of G53
Lower round 6G56Winner of G54 v Loser of G29
G57Winner of G55 v Loser of G28
Lower round 7G58Winner of G56 v Winner of G57
Lower finalG59Winner of G58 v Loser of G30
Grand finalG60Winner of G30 v Winner of G59
Reset (if needed)G61Rematch of G60, played only if the lower bracket team wins it

31 teams in other formats

31 teams in each format. Time slots: rounds that must be played one after another, with enough courts for every ready game.
FormatGamesGames per teamTime slots
31 team single elimination bracket301 to 55
31 team double elimination bracket60 or 612 to 1110 or 11
Round robin4653031
Swiss system754 or 55

Fill it in online

Open this bracket in Easy Bracket Maker to type in real team names, keep this seeding or shuffle it, and enter scores as games finish. Winners move on automatically and losers drop to the right lower bracket game. Export it as SVG, PNG, CSV or a printable sheet, or send players a link. It runs in your browser and saves on your device; there is no account.

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Other sizes

For a different number of teams, see the 30 team double elimination bracket or the 32 team double elimination bracket, or pick any size below.

Questions

How many games are in a 31 team double elimination bracket?

60, or 61 if the grand final goes to a reset. Every team except the champion loses exactly twice, which makes 60 games; the reset is the one extra game, played when the champion has also lost once.

Who gets a bye in a 31 team double elimination bracket?

Seed 1. 31 teams go into a 32-slot bracket, which leaves 1 empty slot. The bye goes to the top seed, who starts in round 2, so a higher seed earns an easier path.

How many games does each team play?

At least 2 and at most 11.

How long does a 31 team double elimination tournament take?

With one court and 30-minute games, the 60 games take 30 hours back to back (30.5 hours with a reset). With enough courts to play every ready game at once, it takes 10 rounds (11 with a reset), because each game waits for the games that feed it.

What is a grand final reset?

The upper bracket winner reaches the grand final unbeaten. If the lower bracket team wins it, both teams have one loss, so one more game decides the champion.