Brackets / Single elimination / 20 teams

20-team single elimination bracket

19 games over 5 rounds. Seed 1, seed 2, seed 3, seed 4, seed 5, seed 6, seed 7, seed 8, seed 9, seed 10, seed 11 and seed 12 get a bye into round 2.

Round 1 Round 2 Quarterfinals Semifinals Final G1 16 17 G2 13 20 G3 15 18 G4 14 19 G9 1 bye Winner G1 G5 8 bye 9 bye G10 4 bye Winner G2 G6 5 bye 12 bye G11 2 bye Winner G3 G7 7 bye 10 bye G12 3 bye Winner G4 G8 6 bye 11 bye G13 Winner G9 Winner G5 G14 Winner G10 Winner G6 G15 Winner G11 Winner G7 G16 Winner G12 Winner G8 G17 Winner G13 Winner G14 G18 Winner G15 Winner G16 G19 Winner G17 Winner G18

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20teams
19games to a champion
5rounds
1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 5 and 6 and 7 and 8 and 9 and 10 and 11 and 12seeds get a bye

The shape of a 20-team bracket

20 teams in a 32-slot bracket leave 12 byes, for seeds 1 to 12. The other 8 teams play 8 round-1 games, from 16 v 17 down to 6 v 11. After round 1, 16 teams are left and the bracket is full from there.

If the favourites win

That puts seed 1 against seed 4 and seed 2 against seed 3 in the semifinals.

SeedOpponents if favourites win (game)
1bye, then 16 (G9), 8 (G13), 4 (G17), 2 (G19)
2bye, then 15 (G11), 7 (G15), 3 (G18), 1 (G19)
3bye, then 14 (G12), 6 (G16), 2 (G18)
4bye, then 13 (G10), 5 (G14), 1 (G17)

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 5, and 4 for a champion that had a bye. In the favourites-win run, seed 1 plays 4 and seed 20 plays 1.

How long it takes

19 games at 30 minutes is 9 h 30 min of court time. No round has more than 8 games, so extra courts beyond that sit idle.

CourtsClock time
19 h 30 min
25 h
43 h

Every game in order

GameRoundTeam ATeam B
G1Round 1Seed 16Seed 17
G2Round 1Seed 13Seed 20
G3Round 1Seed 15Seed 18
G4Round 1Seed 14Seed 19
G5Round 2Seed 8Seed 9
G6Round 2Seed 5Seed 12
G7Round 2Seed 7Seed 10
G8Round 2Seed 6Seed 11
G9Round 2Seed 1Winner of G1
G10Round 2Seed 4Winner of G2
G11Round 2Seed 2Winner of G3
G12Round 2Seed 3Winner of G4
G13QuarterfinalsWinner of G9Winner of G5
G14QuarterfinalsWinner of G10Winner of G6
G15QuarterfinalsWinner of G11Winner of G7
G16QuarterfinalsWinner of G12Winner of G8
G17SemifinalsWinner of G13Winner of G14
G18SemifinalsWinner of G15Winner of G16
G19FinalWinner of G17Winner of G18

Questions

How many games are in a 20-team single elimination bracket?

19.

How many rounds does a 20-team single elimination bracket have?

5 rounds.

Who gets the byes with 20 teams?

Seed 1, Seed 2, Seed 3, Seed 4, Seed 5, Seed 6, Seed 7, Seed 8, Seed 9, Seed 10, Seed 11 and Seed 12. They start in round 2.

Can I add a third-place game to a 20-team bracket?

Yes. The two semifinal losers play once more, which makes 20 games.

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