How a 16-team single elimination bracket works
A 16-team field is the cleanest size in bracket sports. Sixteen is a power of two, so every slot is filled and nobody gets a bye — all 16 teams play in round one and the bracket halves perfectly each round until one team is left standing.
That gives you exactly 4 rounds and 15 total games. One loss and you're out, so the math is simple: with 16 entrants you play 16 minus 1 games to crown a champion. The rounds run Round of 16 (8 games), Quarterfinals (4 games), Semifinals (2 games), and the Final (1 game).
- Round of 16 — 8 matches, all 16 teams play
- Quarterfinals — 4 matches
- Semifinals — 2 matches
- Final — 1 match for the title
- No byes: 16 is a power of two, so every seed plays round one
Seeding, byes, and bigger fields
EZ Bracket seeds your 16 teams automatically using the standard mirror layout: the 1 seed sits opposite the 16, the 2 seed opposite the 15, and so on, so the top seeds can only meet late and the bracket stays balanced. Enter your teams in seed order and the matchups fall into place.
Don't have exactly 16? You don't have to force it. Drop to 12 or 15 teams and the top seeds get automatic byes through round one. Going bigger — 32, 64, even up to 128 — works the same way, with seeding and byes handled for you.
Print it or run it live
A 16-team bracket fits cleanly on a single sheet of US Letter paper, so you can pin a printed bracket up by the courts or hand out blank copies for a fillable bracket template. No watermark, no "upgrade to print," no paywall.
Prefer to run it on a screen? Keep the tab open and tap winners as games finish — standings and the medal podium update live, and full undo and redo means a mistyped result is never a problem. Want a losers bracket too? Switch this same 16-team field to double elimination in one tap, where a team is only out after two losses.