Brackets / Single elimination / 23 teams

23-team single elimination bracket

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

Round 1 Round 2 Quarterfinals Semifinals Final G1 16 17 G2 13 20 G3 12 21 G4 15 18 G5 10 23 G6 14 19 G7 11 22 G9 1 bye Winner G1 G8 8 bye 9 bye G10 4 bye Winner G2 G11 5 bye Winner G3 G12 2 bye Winner G4 G13 7 bye Winner G5 G14 3 bye Winner G6 G15 6 bye Winner G7 G16 Winner G9 Winner G8 G17 Winner G10 Winner G11 G18 Winner G12 Winner G13 G19 Winner G14 Winner G15 G20 Winner G16 Winner G17 G21 Winner G18 Winner G19 G22 Winner G20 Winner G21

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23teams
22games to a champion
5rounds
1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 5 and 6 and 7 and 8 and 9seeds get a bye

The shape of a 23-team bracket

23 teams in a 32-slot bracket leave 9 byes, for seeds 1 to 9. The other 14 teams play 8 round-1 games, from 16 v 17 down to 8 v 9. 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 (G16), 4 (G20), 2 (G22)
2bye, then 15 (G12), 7 (G18), 3 (G21), 1 (G22)
3bye, then 14 (G14), 6 (G19), 2 (G21)
4bye, then 13 (G10), 5 (G17), 1 (G20)

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 23 plays 1.

How long it takes

22 games at 30 minutes is 11 h of court time. No round has more than 8 games, so extra courts beyond that sit idle.

CourtsClock time
111 h
26 h
43 h 30 min

Every game in order

GameRoundTeam ATeam B
G1Round 1Seed 16Seed 17
G2Round 1Seed 13Seed 20
G3Round 1Seed 12Seed 21
G4Round 1Seed 15Seed 18
G5Round 1Seed 10Seed 23
G6Round 1Seed 14Seed 19
G7Round 1Seed 11Seed 22
G8Round 2Seed 8Seed 9
G9Round 2Seed 1Winner of G1
G10Round 2Seed 4Winner of G2
G11Round 2Seed 5Winner of G3
G12Round 2Seed 2Winner of G4
G13Round 2Seed 7Winner of G5
G14Round 2Seed 3Winner of G6
G15Round 2Seed 6Winner of G7
G16QuarterfinalsWinner of G9Winner of G8
G17QuarterfinalsWinner of G10Winner of G11
G18QuarterfinalsWinner of G12Winner of G13
G19QuarterfinalsWinner of G14Winner of G15
G20SemifinalsWinner of G16Winner of G17
G21SemifinalsWinner of G18Winner of G19
G22FinalWinner of G20Winner of G21

Questions

How many games are in a 23-team single elimination bracket?

22.

How many rounds does a 23-team single elimination bracket have?

5 rounds.

Who gets the byes with 23 teams?

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

Can I add a third-place game to a 23-team bracket?

Yes. The two semifinal losers play once more, which makes 23 games.

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