16 Team Single Elimination Bracket
A blank 16 team single elimination bracket with 15 numbered games over 4 rounds. Every open slot says which game its team comes from. Print it, or fill it in online.
- 16 teams
- 15 games
- 4 rounds
- no byes
Click the bracket to open it full size.
How a 16 team single elimination bracket works
16 is a power of two, so the bracket fills evenly: 8 games in round 1, no byes, and every team plays from the start.
There are 15 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.
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.
| Round | Game | Matchup |
|---|---|---|
| Round 1 | G1 | Seed 1 v Seed 16 |
| G2 | Seed 8 v Seed 9 | |
| G3 | Seed 4 v Seed 13 | |
| G4 | Seed 5 v Seed 12 | |
| G5 | Seed 2 v Seed 15 | |
| G6 | Seed 7 v Seed 10 | |
| G7 | Seed 3 v Seed 14 | |
| G8 | Seed 6 v Seed 11 | |
| Quarterfinals | G9 | Winner of G1 v Winner of G2 |
| G10 | Winner of G3 v Winner of G4 | |
| G11 | Winner of G5 v Winner of G6 | |
| G12 | Winner of G7 v Winner of G8 | |
| Semifinals | G13 | Winner of G9 v Winner of G10 |
| G14 | Winner of G11 v Winner of G12 | |
| Final | G15 | Winner of G13 v Winner of G14 |
16 teams in other formats
| Format | Games | Games per team | Time slots |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16 team single elimination bracket | 15 | 1 to 4 | 4 |
| 16 team double elimination bracket | 30 or 31 | 2 to 9 | 8 or 9 |
| 16 team round robin schedule | 120 | 15 | 15 |
| Swiss system | 32 | 4 | 4 |
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 16 team bracket →Other sizes
For a different number of teams, see the 15 team single elimination bracket or the 17 team single elimination bracket, or pick any size below.
- 3 teams
- 4 teams
- 5 teams
- 6 teams
- 7 teams
- 8 teams
- 9 teams
- 10 teams
- 11 teams
- 12 teams
- 13 teams
- 14 teams
- 15 teams
- 16 teams
- 17 teams
- 18 teams
- 19 teams
- 20 teams
- 21 teams
- 22 teams
- 23 teams
- 24 teams
- 25 teams
- 26 teams
- 27 teams
- 28 teams
- 29 teams
- 30 teams
- 31 teams
- 32 teams
- 48 teams
- 64 teams
Questions
How many games are in a 16 team single elimination bracket?
15. Each game knocks out one team, and every team except the champion is knocked out once.
Who gets a bye in a 16 team bracket?
Nobody. 16 is a power of two, so the bracket fills evenly and every team plays in round 1.
How long does a 16 team single elimination tournament take?
With one court and 30-minute games, the 15 games take 7.5 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 G13 and G14) play one extra game after the semifinals.