15 Team Single Elimination Bracket

A blank 15 team single elimination bracket with 14 numbered games over 4 rounds and a bye for seed 1. Every open slot says which game its team comes from. Print it, or fill it in online.

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Blank 15 team single elimination bracket with 14 numbered games and a bye for seed 1

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How a 15 team single elimination bracket works

A single elimination bracket only pairs up evenly at a power of two (4, 8, 16, 32, 64), so 15 teams go into a 16-slot bracket. The 1 empty slot becomes a bye for seed 1, who starts in round 2. Round 1 has 7 games, played by seeds 2 to 15.

There are 14 games in total. Each game knocks out one team and every team except the champion is knocked out once, so a single elimination bracket always has one game fewer than it has teams. The games are played over 4 rounds, and the champion plays 4 games, or 3 if it is seed 1, which has the bye.

Seeds are placed so the strongest teams meet as late as possible: 1 and 2 are in opposite halves and can only meet in the final, and seeds 1 to 4 are in separate quarters, so they can only meet from the semifinals on.

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

Order of play

Every game in the bracket, numbered as on the printable sheet. Games in the same round can run at the same time.

RoundGameMatchup
Round 1G1Seed 8 v Seed 9
G2Seed 4 v Seed 13
G3Seed 5 v Seed 12
G4Seed 2 v Seed 15
G5Seed 7 v Seed 10
G6Seed 3 v Seed 14
G7Seed 6 v Seed 11
QuarterfinalsG8Seed 1 v Winner of G1
G9Winner of G2 v Winner of G3
G10Winner of G4 v Winner of G5
G11Winner of G6 v Winner of G7
SemifinalsG12Winner of G8 v Winner of G9
G13Winner of G10 v Winner of G11
FinalG14Winner of G12 v Winner of G13

15 teams in other formats

15 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
15 team single elimination bracket141 to 44
15 team double elimination bracket28 or 292 to 98 or 9
15 team round robin schedule1051415
Swiss system283 or 44

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. 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.

Open the 15 team bracket →

Other sizes

For a different number of teams, see the 14 team single elimination bracket or the 16 team single elimination bracket, or pick any size below.

Questions

How many games are in a 15 team single elimination bracket?

14. Each game knocks out one team, and every team except the champion is knocked out once.

Who gets a bye in a 15 team bracket?

Seed 1. 15 teams go into a 16-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 long does a 15 team single elimination tournament take?

With one court and 30-minute games, the 14 games take 7 hours back to back. With enough courts to play every ready game at once, it takes 4 rounds, about 2 hours, because each game waits for the games that feed it.

Is there a third-place game?

Not in the bracket itself. If you want one, the two semifinal losers (the losers of G12 and G13) play one extra game after the semifinals.