48 Team Single Elimination Bracket
A blank 48 team single elimination bracket with 47 numbered games over 6 rounds and byes for seeds 1 to 16. Every open slot says which game its team comes from. Print it, or fill it in online.
- 48 teams
- 47 games
- 6 rounds
- 16 first-round byes
Click the bracket to open it full size, or scroll sideways to see all of it.
How a 48 team single elimination bracket works
A single elimination bracket only pairs up evenly at a power of two (4, 8, 16, 32, 64), so 48 teams go into a 64-slot bracket. The 16 empty slots become byes for seeds 1 to 16, who start in round 2. Round 1 has 16 games, played by seeds 17 to 48.
There are 47 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 6 rounds, and the champion plays 6 games, or 5 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 32 v Seed 33 |
| G2 | Seed 17 v Seed 48 | |
| G3 | Seed 25 v Seed 40 | |
| G4 | Seed 24 v Seed 41 | |
| G5 | Seed 29 v Seed 36 | |
| G6 | Seed 20 v Seed 45 | |
| G7 | Seed 28 v Seed 37 | |
| G8 | Seed 21 v Seed 44 | |
| G9 | Seed 31 v Seed 34 | |
| G10 | Seed 18 v Seed 47 | |
| G11 | Seed 26 v Seed 39 | |
| G12 | Seed 23 v Seed 42 | |
| G13 | Seed 30 v Seed 35 | |
| G14 | Seed 19 v Seed 46 | |
| G15 | Seed 27 v Seed 38 | |
| G16 | Seed 22 v Seed 43 | |
| Round 2 | G17 | Seed 1 v Winner of G1 |
| G18 | Seed 16 v Winner of G2 | |
| G19 | Seed 8 v Winner of G3 | |
| G20 | Seed 9 v Winner of G4 | |
| G21 | Seed 4 v Winner of G5 | |
| G22 | Seed 13 v Winner of G6 | |
| G23 | Seed 5 v Winner of G7 | |
| G24 | Seed 12 v Winner of G8 | |
| G25 | Seed 2 v Winner of G9 | |
| G26 | Seed 15 v Winner of G10 | |
| G27 | Seed 7 v Winner of G11 | |
| G28 | Seed 10 v Winner of G12 | |
| G29 | Seed 3 v Winner of G13 | |
| G30 | Seed 14 v Winner of G14 | |
| G31 | Seed 6 v Winner of G15 | |
| G32 | Seed 11 v Winner of G16 | |
| Round 3 | G33 | Winner of G17 v Winner of G18 |
| G34 | Winner of G19 v Winner of G20 | |
| G35 | Winner of G21 v Winner of G22 | |
| G36 | Winner of G23 v Winner of G24 | |
| G37 | Winner of G25 v Winner of G26 | |
| G38 | Winner of G27 v Winner of G28 | |
| G39 | Winner of G29 v Winner of G30 | |
| G40 | Winner of G31 v Winner of G32 | |
| Quarterfinals | G41 | Winner of G33 v Winner of G34 |
| G42 | Winner of G35 v Winner of G36 | |
| G43 | Winner of G37 v Winner of G38 | |
| G44 | Winner of G39 v Winner of G40 | |
| Semifinals | G45 | Winner of G41 v Winner of G42 |
| G46 | Winner of G43 v Winner of G44 | |
| Final | G47 | Winner of G45 v Winner of G46 |
48 teams in other formats
| Format | Games | Games per team | Time slots |
|---|---|---|---|
| 48 team single elimination bracket | 47 | 1 to 6 | 6 |
| Double elimination | 94 or 95 | 2 to 13 | 12 or 13 |
| Round robin | 1128 | 47 | 47 |
| Swiss system | 144 | 6 | 6 |
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 48 team bracket →Other sizes
For a different number of teams, see the 32 team single elimination bracket or the 64 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 48 team single elimination bracket?
47. Each game knocks out one team, and every team except the champion is knocked out once.
Who gets a bye in a 48 team bracket?
Seeds 1 To 16. 48 teams go into a 64-slot bracket, which leaves 16 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 48 team single elimination tournament take?
With one court and 30-minute games, the 47 games take 23.5 hours back to back. With enough courts to play every ready game at once, it takes 6 rounds, about 3 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 G45 and G46) play one extra game after the semifinals.