Brackets / Pool play / 24 teams

24-team pool play and bracket

10 ways to split 24 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 16 Seed 16 17 Seed 17 Games G1 Seed 16 v Seed 17 G2 Seed 17 v Seed 1 G3 Seed 1 v Seed 16 Pool B # Team W D L PF PA Pts 2 Seed 2 15 Seed 15 18 Seed 18 Games G4 Seed 15 v Seed 18 G5 Seed 18 v Seed 2 G6 Seed 2 v Seed 15 Pool C # Team W D L PF PA Pts 3 Seed 3 14 Seed 14 19 Seed 19 Games G7 Seed 14 v Seed 19 G8 Seed 19 v Seed 3 G9 Seed 3 v Seed 14 Pool D # Team W D L PF PA Pts 4 Seed 4 13 Seed 13 20 Seed 20 Games G10 Seed 13 v Seed 20 G11 Seed 20 v Seed 4 G12 Seed 4 v Seed 13 Pool E # Team W D L PF PA Pts 5 Seed 5 12 Seed 12 21 Seed 21 Games G13 Seed 12 v Seed 21 G14 Seed 21 v Seed 5 G15 Seed 5 v Seed 12 Pool F # Team W D L PF PA Pts 6 Seed 6 11 Seed 11 22 Seed 22 Games G16 Seed 11 v Seed 22 G17 Seed 22 v Seed 6 G18 Seed 6 v Seed 11 Pool G # Team W D L PF PA Pts 7 Seed 7 10 Seed 10 23 Seed 23 Games G19 Seed 10 v Seed 23 G20 Seed 23 v Seed 7 G21 Seed 7 v Seed 10 Pool H # Team W D L PF PA Pts 8 Seed 8 9 Seed 9 24 Seed 24 Games G22 Seed 9 v Seed 24 G23 Seed 24 v Seed 8 G24 Seed 8 v Seed 9 Top 1 from each pool advance. : playoff Playoff bracket after pool play. Seeds are pool finishing places. Quarterfinals Semifinals Final G25 1st in Pool A 1st in Pool H G26 1st in Pool D 1st in Pool E G27 1st in Pool B 1st in Pool G G28 1st in Pool C 1st in Pool F G29 Winner G25 Winner G26 G30 Winner G27 Winner G28 G31 Winner G29 Winner G30

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24teams
10splits offered
31games in the shortest split

Ways to split 24 teams

8 pools (A: seeds 1, 16, 17; B: seeds 2, 15, 18; C: seeds 3, 14, 19; D: seeds 4, 13, 20; E: seeds 5, 12, 21; F: seeds 6, 11, 22; G: seeds 7, 10, 23; H: seeds 8, 9, 24). 24 pool games, then 8 teams in the bracket: the top 1 from each pool. 31 games in all.

7 pools (A: seeds 1, 14, 15; B: seeds 2, 13, 16; C: seeds 3, 12, 17; D: seeds 4, 11, 18; E: seeds 5, 10, 19, 24; F: seeds 6, 9, 20, 23; G: seeds 7, 8, 21, 22). 30 pool games, then 8 teams in the bracket: the top 1 from each pool plus 1 wildcard. 37 games in all.

8 pools (A: seeds 1, 16, 17; B: seeds 2, 15, 18; C: seeds 3, 14, 19; D: seeds 4, 13, 20; E: seeds 5, 12, 21; F: seeds 6, 11, 22; G: seeds 7, 10, 23; H: seeds 8, 9, 24). 24 pool games, then 16 teams in the bracket: the top 2 from each pool. 39 games in all.

6 pools (A: seeds 1, 12, 13, 24; B: seeds 2, 11, 14, 23; C: seeds 3, 10, 15, 22; D: seeds 4, 9, 16, 21; E: seeds 5, 8, 17, 20; F: seeds 6, 7, 18, 19). 36 pool games, then 8 teams in the bracket: the top 1 from each pool plus 2 wildcards. 43 games in all.

7 pools (A: seeds 1, 14, 15; B: seeds 2, 13, 16; C: seeds 3, 12, 17; D: seeds 4, 11, 18; E: seeds 5, 10, 19, 24; F: seeds 6, 9, 20, 23; G: seeds 7, 8, 21, 22). 30 pool games, then 16 teams in the bracket: the top 2 from each pool plus 2 wildcards. 45 games in all.

6 pools (A: seeds 1, 12, 13, 24; B: seeds 2, 11, 14, 23; C: seeds 3, 10, 15, 22; D: seeds 4, 9, 16, 21; E: seeds 5, 8, 17, 20; F: seeds 6, 7, 18, 19). 36 pool games, then 16 teams in the bracket: the top 2 from each pool plus 4 wildcards. 51 games in all.

5 pools (A: seeds 1, 10, 11, 20, 21; B: seeds 2, 9, 12, 19, 22; C: seeds 3, 8, 13, 18, 23; D: seeds 4, 7, 14, 17, 24; E: seeds 5, 6, 15, 16). 46 pool games, then 8 teams in the bracket: the top 1 from each pool plus 3 wildcards. 53 games in all.

5 pools (A: seeds 1, 10, 11, 20, 21; B: seeds 2, 9, 12, 19, 22; C: seeds 3, 8, 13, 18, 23; D: seeds 4, 7, 14, 17, 24; E: seeds 5, 6, 15, 16). 46 pool games, then 16 teams in the bracket: the top 3 from each pool plus 1 wildcard. 61 games in all.

4 pools (A: seeds 1, 8, 9, 16, 17, 24; B: seeds 2, 7, 10, 15, 18, 23; C: seeds 3, 6, 11, 14, 19, 22; D: seeds 4, 5, 12, 13, 20, 21). 60 pool games, then 4 teams in the bracket: the top 1 from each pool. 63 games in all.

4 pools (A: seeds 1, 8, 9, 16, 17, 24; B: seeds 2, 7, 10, 15, 18, 23; C: seeds 3, 6, 11, 14, 19, 22; D: seeds 4, 5, 12, 13, 20, 21). 60 pool games, then 8 teams in the bracket: the top 2 from each pool. 67 games in all.

The one drawn above

The drawing shows 8 pools with the top 1 advancing, the split with the fewest games (31). Pools are snake-seeded, so pool A gets seed 1 and the bracket seeds pool-mates apart in round 1.

Pool games in the 8-pool split

Pool A (seeds 1, 16, 17) plays 1 v 16, 1 v 17, 16 v 17.

Pool B (seeds 2, 15, 18) plays 2 v 15, 2 v 18, 15 v 18.

The other 6 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. All pools are the same size, so every team gets the same number of games.

The bracket after pools

8 teams advance, so the bracket has 8 places and no byes. Everyone who advances qualified by finishing in the top places of their own pool.

Time for the pool stage

The largest pool is 3 teams, so pools need 3 rounds to finish. All 8 pools play each round together.

CourtsPool stage at 30 minutes a game
26 h
43 h
161 h 30 min

If your field changes

Dropping to 20 teams gives 20 fewer games. Going up to 32 teams gives 14 more games. Page sizes differ by the formats the numbers allow, so check the nearest size before you commit.

Questions

How should I split 24 teams into pools?

8 pools with the top 1 advancing is the shortest option at 31 games.

How many games is 24-team pool play?

From 31 to 67, depending on the split.

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