Brackets / Single elimination / 9 teams

9-team single elimination bracket

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

Round 1 Quarterfinals Semifinals Final G1 8 9 G5 1 bye Winner G1 G2 4 bye 5 bye G3 2 bye 7 bye G4 3 bye 6 bye G7 Winner G5 Winner G2 G6 Winner G3 Winner G4 G8 Winner G7 Winner G6

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9teams
8games to a champion
4rounds
1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 5 and 6 and 7seeds get a bye

The shape of a 9-team bracket

9 teams in a 16-slot bracket leave 7 byes, for seeds 1 to 7. The other 2 teams play 4 round-1 games: 8 v 9, 4 v 5, 2 v 7 and 3 v 6. After round 1, 8 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 8 (G5), 4 (G7), 2 (G8)
2bye, then 7 (G3), 3 (G6), 1 (G8)
3bye, then 6 (G4), 2 (G6)
4bye, then 5 (G2), 1 (G7)

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 9 plays 1.

How long it takes

8 games at 30 minutes is 4 h of court time. No round has more than 4 games, so extra courts beyond that sit idle.

CourtsClock time
14 h
22 h 30 min
42 h

Every game in order

GameRoundTeam ATeam B
G1Round 1Seed 8Seed 9
G2QuarterfinalsSeed 4Seed 5
G3QuarterfinalsSeed 2Seed 7
G4QuarterfinalsSeed 3Seed 6
G5QuarterfinalsSeed 1Winner of G1
G6SemifinalsWinner of G3Winner of G4
G7SemifinalsWinner of G5Winner of G2
G8FinalWinner of G7Winner of G6

Questions

How many games are in a 9-team single elimination bracket?

8.

How many rounds does a 9-team single elimination bracket have?

4 rounds.

Who gets the byes with 9 teams?

Seed 1, Seed 2, Seed 3, Seed 4, Seed 5, Seed 6 and Seed 7. They start in round 2.

Can I add a third-place game to a 9-team bracket?

Yes. The two semifinal losers play once more, which makes 9 games.

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