23 Team Single Elimination Bracket

A blank 23 team single elimination bracket with 22 numbered games over 5 rounds and byes for seeds 1 to 9. Every open slot says which game its team comes from. Print it, or fill it in online.

23 teams
22 games
5 rounds
9 first-round byes

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Click the bracket to open it full size.

How a 23 team single elimination bracket works

A single elimination bracket only pairs up evenly at a power of two (4, 8, 16, 32, 64), so 23 teams go into a 32-slot bracket. The 9 empty slots become byes for seeds 1 to 9, who start in round 2. Round 1 has 7 games, played by seeds 10 to 23.

There are 22 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 5 rounds, and the champion plays 5 games, or 4 if it is one of the seeds with a 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.

Round	Game	Matchup
Round 1	G1	Seed 16 v Seed 17
	G2	Seed 13 v Seed 20
	G3	Seed 12 v Seed 21
	G4	Seed 15 v Seed 18
	G5	Seed 10 v Seed 23
	G6	Seed 14 v Seed 19
	G7	Seed 11 v Seed 22
Round 2	G8	Seed 1 v Winner of G1
	G9	Seed 8 v Seed 9
	G10	Seed 4 v Winner of G2
	G11	Seed 5 v Winner of G3
	G12	Seed 2 v Winner of G4
	G13	Seed 7 v Winner of G5
	G14	Seed 3 v Winner of G6
	G15	Seed 6 v Winner of G7
Quarterfinals	G16	Winner of G8 v Winner of G9
	G17	Winner of G10 v Winner of G11
	G18	Winner of G12 v Winner of G13
	G19	Winner of G14 v Winner of G15
Semifinals	G20	Winner of G16 v Winner of G17
Semifinals	G21	Winner of G18 v Winner of G19
Final	G22	Winner of G20 v Winner of G21

23 teams in other formats

23 teams in each format. Time slots: rounds that must be played one after another, with enough courts for every ready game.
Format	Games	Games per team	Time slots
23 team single elimination bracket	22	1 to 5	5
23 team double elimination bracket	44 or 45	2 to 11	10 or 11
Round robin	253	22	23
Swiss system	55	4 or 5	5

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 23 team bracket →

Other sizes

For a different number of teams, see the 22 team single elimination bracket or the 24 team single elimination bracket, or pick any size below.

Questions

How many games are in a 23 team single elimination bracket?

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

Who gets a bye in a 23 team bracket?

Seeds 1 To 9. 23 teams go into a 32-slot bracket, which leaves 9 empty slots. The byes go to the top seeds, who start in round 2, so a higher seed earns an easier path.

How long does a 23 team single elimination tournament take?

With one court and 30-minute games, the 22 games take 11 hours back to back. With enough courts to play every ready game at once, it takes 5 rounds, about 2.5 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 G20 and G21) play one extra game after the semifinals.