Brackets / Single elimination / 15 teams
15-team single elimination bracket
14 games over 4 rounds. Seed 1 gets a bye into round 2.
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The shape of a 15-team bracket
15 is one short of 16, so there is a single bye and it goes to seed 1. The other 14 teams play 7 round-1 games, from 8 v 9 down to 6 v 11, and seed 1 joins the winners in round 2.
If the favourites win
That puts seed 1 against seed 4 and seed 2 against seed 3 in the semifinals.
| Seed | Opponents if favourites win (game) |
|---|---|
| 1 | bye, then 8 (G8), 4 (G12), 2 (G14) |
| 2 | 15 (G4), 7 (G10), 3 (G13), 1 (G14) |
| 3 | 14 (G6), 6 (G11), 2 (G13) |
| 4 | 13 (G2), 5 (G9), 1 (G12) |
How many games each team plays
The fewest is 1, for a team that loses its first game, which for a bye team is its round-2 game. The most is 4, and 3 for a champion that had a bye. In the favourites-win run, seed 1 plays 3 and seed 15 plays 1.
How long it takes
14 games at 30 minutes is 7 h of court time. No round has more than 7 games, so extra courts beyond that sit idle.
| Courts | Clock time |
|---|---|
| 1 | 7 h |
| 2 | 4 h |
| 4 | 2 h 30 min |
Every game in order
| Game | Round | Team A | Team B |
|---|---|---|---|
| G1 | Round 1 | Seed 8 | Seed 9 |
| G2 | Round 1 | Seed 4 | Seed 13 |
| G3 | Round 1 | Seed 5 | Seed 12 |
| G4 | Round 1 | Seed 2 | Seed 15 |
| G5 | Round 1 | Seed 7 | Seed 10 |
| G6 | Round 1 | Seed 3 | Seed 14 |
| G7 | Round 1 | Seed 6 | Seed 11 |
| G8 | Quarterfinals | Seed 1 | Winner of G1 |
| G9 | Quarterfinals | Winner of G2 | Winner of G3 |
| G10 | Quarterfinals | Winner of G4 | Winner of G5 |
| G11 | Quarterfinals | Winner of G6 | Winner of G7 |
| G12 | Semifinals | Winner of G8 | Winner of G9 |
| G13 | Semifinals | Winner of G10 | Winner of G11 |
| G14 | Final | Winner of G12 | Winner of G13 |
Questions
How many games are in a 15-team single elimination bracket?
14.
How many rounds does a 15-team single elimination bracket have?
4 rounds.
Who gets the byes with 15 teams?
Seed 1. It starts in round 2.
Can I add a third-place game to a 15-team bracket?
Yes. The two semifinal losers play once more, which makes 15 games.
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