Brackets / Pool play / 16 teams

16-team pool play and bracket

5 ways to split 16 teams, each with a playoff bracket. The drawing shows the split with the fewest games.

Pool A # Team W D L PF PA Pts 1 Seed 1 10 Seed 10 11 Seed 11 Games G1 Seed 10 v Seed 11 G2 Seed 11 v Seed 1 G3 Seed 1 v Seed 10 Pool B # Team W D L PF PA Pts 2 Seed 2 9 Seed 9 12 Seed 12 Games G4 Seed 9 v Seed 12 G5 Seed 12 v Seed 2 G6 Seed 2 v Seed 9 Pool C # Team W D L PF PA Pts 3 Seed 3 8 Seed 8 13 Seed 13 Games G7 Seed 8 v Seed 13 G8 Seed 13 v Seed 3 G9 Seed 3 v Seed 8 Pool D # Team W D L PF PA Pts 4 Seed 4 7 Seed 7 14 Seed 14 Games G10 Seed 7 v Seed 14 G11 Seed 14 v Seed 4 G12 Seed 4 v Seed 7 Pool E # Team W D L PF PA Pts 5 Seed 5 6 Seed 6 15 Seed 15 16 Seed 16 Games G13 Seed 5 v Seed 16 G14 Seed 6 v Seed 15 G15 Seed 16 v Seed 6 G16 Seed 15 v Seed 5 G17 Seed 15 v Seed 16 G18 Seed 5 v Seed 6 Top 1 from each pool advance, plus the 3 best next-place teams. : playoff Playoff bracket after pool play. Seeds are pool finishing places. Quarterfinals Semifinals Final G19 1st in Pool A Best 2nd-place #3 G20 1st in Pool D 1st in Pool E G21 1st in Pool B Best 2nd-place #2 G22 1st in Pool C Best 2nd-place #1 G23 Winner G19 Winner G20 G24 Winner G21 Winner G22 G25 Winner G23 Winner G24

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16teams
5splits offered
25games in the shortest split

Ways to split 16 teams

5 pools (A: seeds 1, 10, 11; B: seeds 2, 9, 12; C: seeds 3, 8, 13; D: seeds 4, 7, 14; E: seeds 5, 6, 15, 16). 18 pool games, then 8 teams in the bracket: the top 1 from each pool plus 3 wildcards. 25 games in all.

4 pools (A: seeds 1, 8, 9, 16; B: seeds 2, 7, 10, 15; C: seeds 3, 6, 11, 14; D: seeds 4, 5, 12, 13). 24 pool games, then 4 teams in the bracket: the top 1 from each pool. 27 games in all.

4 pools (A: seeds 1, 8, 9, 16; B: seeds 2, 7, 10, 15; C: seeds 3, 6, 11, 14; D: seeds 4, 5, 12, 13). 24 pool games, then 8 teams in the bracket: the top 2 from each pool. 31 games in all.

3 pools (A: seeds 1, 6, 7, 12, 13; B: seeds 2, 5, 8, 11, 14; C: seeds 3, 4, 9, 10, 15, 16). 35 pool games, then 4 teams in the bracket: the top 1 from each pool plus 1 wildcard. 38 games in all.

3 pools (A: seeds 1, 6, 7, 12, 13; B: seeds 2, 5, 8, 11, 14; C: seeds 3, 4, 9, 10, 15, 16). 35 pool games, then 8 teams in the bracket: the top 2 from each pool plus 2 wildcards. 42 games in all.

The one drawn above

The drawing shows 5 pools with the top 1 and 3 wildcards advancing, the split with the fewest games (25). Pools are snake-seeded, so pool A gets seed 1 and the bracket seeds pool-mates apart in round 1.

Pool games in the 5-pool split

Pool A (seeds 1, 10, 11) plays 1 v 10, 1 v 11, 10 v 11.

Pool B (seeds 2, 9, 12) plays 2 v 9, 2 v 12, 9 v 12.

The other 3 pools follow the same pattern with their own seeds.

Games per team before the bracket

A pool of 3 gives each of its teams 2 games; A pool of 4 gives each of its teams 3 games. The pools are not all the same size, so some teams get a game more than others; the wildcards and the bracket seeding even that out.

The bracket after pools

8 teams advance, so the bracket has 8 places and no byes. The 3 wildcards are the best of the teams that finished just outside the automatic places, ranked on points, then point difference.

Time for the pool stage

The largest pool is 4 teams, so pools need 3 rounds to finish. All 5 pools play each round together.

CourtsPool stage at 30 minutes a game
24 h 30 min
43 h
101 h 30 min

If your field changes

Dropping to 15 teams gives 5 fewer games. Going up to 20 teams gives 5 more games. Page sizes differ by the formats the numbers allow, so check the nearest size before you commit.

Questions

How should I split 16 teams into pools?

5 pools with the top 1 plus 3 wildcards advancing is the shortest option at 25 games.

How many games is 16-team pool play?

From 25 to 42, depending on the split.

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