28 Team Single Elimination Bracket
A blank 28 team single elimination bracket with 27 numbered games over 5 rounds and byes for seeds 1 to 4. Every open slot says which game its team comes from. Print it, or fill it in online.
- 28 teams
- 27 games
- 5 rounds
- 4 first-round byes
Click the bracket to open it full size.
How a 28 team single elimination bracket works
A single elimination bracket only pairs up evenly at a power of two (4, 8, 16, 32, 64), so 28 teams go into a 32-slot bracket. The 4 empty slots become byes for seeds 1 to 4, who start in round 2. Round 1 has 12 games, played by seeds 5 to 28.
There are 27 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 8 v Seed 25 | |
| G3 | Seed 9 v Seed 24 | |
| G4 | Seed 13 v Seed 20 | |
| G5 | Seed 5 v Seed 28 | |
| G6 | Seed 12 v Seed 21 | |
| G7 | Seed 15 v Seed 18 | |
| G8 | Seed 7 v Seed 26 | |
| G9 | Seed 10 v Seed 23 | |
| G10 | Seed 14 v Seed 19 | |
| G11 | Seed 6 v Seed 27 | |
| G12 | Seed 11 v Seed 22 | |
| Round 2 | G13 | Seed 1 v Winner of G1 |
| G14 | Winner of G2 v Winner of G3 | |
| G15 | Seed 4 v Winner of G4 | |
| G16 | Winner of G5 v Winner of G6 | |
| G17 | Seed 2 v Winner of G7 | |
| G18 | Winner of G8 v Winner of G9 | |
| G19 | Seed 3 v Winner of G10 | |
| G20 | Winner of G11 v Winner of G12 | |
| Quarterfinals | G21 | Winner of G13 v Winner of G14 |
| G22 | Winner of G15 v Winner of G16 | |
| G23 | Winner of G17 v Winner of G18 | |
| G24 | Winner of G19 v Winner of G20 | |
| Semifinals | G25 | Winner of G21 v Winner of G22 |
| G26 | Winner of G23 v Winner of G24 | |
| Final | G27 | Winner of G25 v Winner of G26 |
28 teams in other formats
| Format | Games | Games per team | Time slots |
|---|---|---|---|
| 28 team single elimination bracket | 27 | 1 to 5 | 5 |
| 28 team double elimination bracket | 54 or 55 | 2 to 11 | 10 or 11 |
| Round robin | 378 | 27 | 27 |
| Swiss system | 70 | 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 28 team bracket →Other sizes
For a different number of teams, see the 27 team single elimination bracket or the 29 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 28 team single elimination bracket?
27. Each game knocks out one team, and every team except the champion is knocked out once.
Who gets a bye in a 28 team bracket?
Seeds 1 To 4. 28 teams go into a 32-slot bracket, which leaves 4 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 28 team single elimination tournament take?
With one court and 30-minute games, the 27 games take 13.5 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 G25 and G26) play one extra game after the semifinals.