22 Team Tournament Bracket

Six opening games, ten byes, and a round of 16 where Seeds 7 to 10 have to play each other.

22 Team Tournament Bracket

Names: 0

The first name is Seed 1; empty lines are skipped. No names gives a blank bracket to fill in by hand. One name more than there are teams makes the bracket bigger. Random draw shuffles the names into the seeds.

22 teams, single elimination: 21 games in 5 rounds. Seeds 1 to 10 have a bye.

Seed 1: Bye
Seed 8: Bye
Seed 9: Bye
Seed 5: Bye
Seed 4: Bye
Seed 3: Bye
Seed 6: Bye
Seed 7: Bye
Seed 10: Bye
Seed 2: Bye
Champion

Tap a team to send it through; tap it again to take the result back. The bracket scrolls sideways.

Next step No rankings? Draw the 22 seeds on a wheelOpening round done? Carry the last 16 to a 16 team sheet

22 Team Tournament Bracket: how it works

Twenty-two is an awkward number for single elimination: ten short of 32, so a 22 team tournament bracket hands out ten byes. Seeds 1 to 10 sit out round one while Seeds 11 to 22 play six opening games, and the six winners walk into Seeds 1 to 6.

Ten byes, two kinds of first game

Seeds 1 to 6 each wait for an opening-round winner, in seed order: 16 v 17, 15 v 18, 14 v 19, 13 v 20, 12 v 21 and 11 v 22. Seeds 7 to 10 meet each other: 8 v 9 is Game 8 and 7 v 10 is Game 13. Bye seeds need four wins for the title, Seeds 11 to 22 five.

Fewest slots by courts

One court needs 21 slots. Two courts need 11, three 8 and four 7. Six courts need six, and seven get down to five slots, one per round, with Games 1 to 6 and either Game 8 or Game 13 on first. Games 8 and 13 wait for nothing, so on fewer courts play them beside the opening games. No breaks are counted.

Tips

  • Break any tie for 10th place before printing: Seed 10 gets a bye and Seed 11 needs a fifth win.
  • Seeds 1 to 6 cannot play until an opening game ends, so give them a later arrival.
  • Two-day event? Sixteen teams survive the opening round. On a 16 team bracket, Seeds 1 to 10 keep their lines and each opening winner takes the better seed's line: the 11 v 22 winner takes line 11.

Questions and answers

Why do Seeds 8 and 9 play each other?

The sheet is a 32-line bracket with Seeds 23 to 32 missing. Seed 8 is drawn against Seed 25 and Seed 9 against Seed 24. Neither exists, so both move up a round and meet in Game 8. Seeds 7 and 10 land in Game 13 the same way.

What if a team drops out, or a 23rd enters?

Before play, set the Teams box to the new count. With 21, Seed 11 gets a bye into the round of 16 against Seed 6 and the day is 20 games. With 23, Seed 10 loses its bye, because 10 v 23 becomes a seventh opening game whose winner meets Seed 7.

How do I seed 22 teams or players with no rankings?

Random draw shuffles every typed name, team or player, and 1 to 10 carry a bye. If a few are clearly strongest, make them Seeds 1 to 4 by hand, which keeps them apart until the semifinals. Random draw would move them, so draw the other 18 on the custom wheel and type the list in.

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Every game in the 22-team bracket

22 teams, single elimination: 21 games in 5 rounds. Seeds 1 to 10 have a bye.

Games of the 22-team bracket, in playing order
GameRoundTeamsWinner goes toNotes
1Round 1Seed 16 vs Seed 17Game 7The closest opening game on paper, one seed place apart, and the prize for winning it is a game against the top seed.
2Round 1Seed 12 vs Seed 21Game 9Nine seed places apart.
3Round 1Seed 13 vs Seed 20Game 10Seven seed places apart.
4Round 1Seed 14 vs Seed 19Game 11Five seed places apart, and the first game in the bottom half of the sheet.
5Round 1Seed 11 vs Seed 22Game 12Seed 11 is the best team without a bye and draws the last team in, the widest gap of the opening round.
6Round 1Seed 15 vs Seed 18Game 14Three seed places apart, the second closest opening game on paper.
7Round of 16Seed 1 vs Winner of Game 1Game 15Seed 1's first game of the day, against a team that has already played once. If seeds hold: Seed 1 v Seed 16.
8Round of 16Seed 8 vs Seed 9Game 15Both teams come off a bye, so this game does not wait on the opening round and can be played while Games 1 to 6 are on.
9Round of 16Seed 5 vs Winner of Game 2Game 16Seed 5 comes in fresh against a team that has already won once. If seeds hold: Seed 5 v Seed 12.
10Round of 16Seed 4 vs Winner of Game 3Game 16Seed 4 comes in fresh. If seeds hold: Seed 4 v Seed 13, and Seed 4 then meets Seed 5 in Game 16, the tightest quarterfinal on paper.
11Round of 16Seed 3 vs Winner of Game 4Game 17Seed 3's first game. It shares the bottom half with Seed 2, so the two cannot meet before the semifinal, Game 20. If seeds hold: Seed 3 v Seed 14.
12Round of 16Seed 6 vs Winner of Game 5Game 17Seed 6 meets whoever comes through the most lopsided opening game on paper, Seed 11 v Seed 22. If seeds hold: Seed 6 v Seed 11.
13Round of 16Seed 7 vs Seed 10Game 18The other game between two bye seeds. Like Game 8 it needs no opening-round result, so it can start at the same time as Game 1.
14Round of 16Seed 2 vs Winner of Game 6Game 18Seed 2's first game. Seed 2 is in the opposite half from Seed 1, so the two can only meet in Game 21. If seeds hold: Seed 2 v Seed 15.
15QuarterfinalWinner of Game 7 vs Winner of Game 8Game 19If seeds hold: Seed 1 v Seed 8.
16QuarterfinalWinner of Game 9 vs Winner of Game 10Game 19If seeds hold: Seed 5 v Seed 4.
17QuarterfinalWinner of Game 11 vs Winner of Game 12Game 20If seeds hold: Seed 3 v Seed 6.
18QuarterfinalWinner of Game 13 vs Winner of Game 14Game 20If seeds hold: Seed 7 v Seed 2.
19SemifinalWinner of Game 15 vs Winner of Game 16Game 21If seeds hold: Seed 1 v Seed 4, and both are playing their third game. A team that started in the opening round is playing its fourth.
20SemifinalWinner of Game 17 vs Winner of Game 18Game 21If seeds hold: Seed 3 v Seed 2.
21FinalWinner of Game 19 vs Winner of Game 20ChampionIf seeds hold: Seed 1 v Seed 2. A bye seed wins the title in four games, and any other team needs five.

Each seed's path to the title 22

  • Seed 1: Game 7, Game 15, Game 19 and Game 21 Bye in round 1.
  • Seed 2: Game 14, Game 18, Game 20 and Game 21 Bye in round 1.
  • Seed 3: Game 11, Game 17, Game 20 and Game 21 Bye in round 1.
  • Seed 4: Game 10, Game 16, Game 19 and Game 21 Bye in round 1.
  • Seed 5: Game 9, Game 16, Game 19 and Game 21 Bye in round 1.
  • Seed 6: Game 12, Game 17, Game 20 and Game 21 Bye in round 1.
  • Seed 7: Game 13, Game 18, Game 20 and Game 21 Bye in round 1.
  • Seed 8: Game 8, Game 15, Game 19 and Game 21 Bye in round 1.
  • Seed 9: Game 8, Game 15, Game 19 and Game 21 Bye in round 1.
  • Seed 10: Game 13, Game 18, Game 20 and Game 21 Bye in round 1.
  • Seed 11: Game 5, Game 12, Game 17, Game 20 and Game 21
  • Seed 12: Game 2, Game 9, Game 16, Game 19 and Game 21
  • Seed 13: Game 3, Game 10, Game 16, Game 19 and Game 21
  • Seed 14: Game 4, Game 11, Game 17, Game 20 and Game 21
  • Seed 15: Game 6, Game 14, Game 18, Game 20 and Game 21
  • Seed 16: Game 1, Game 7, Game 15, Game 19 and Game 21
  • Seed 17: Game 1, Game 7, Game 15, Game 19 and Game 21
  • Seed 18: Game 6, Game 14, Game 18, Game 20 and Game 21
  • Seed 19: Game 4, Game 11, Game 17, Game 20 and Game 21
  • Seed 20: Game 3, Game 10, Game 16, Game 19 and Game 21
  • Seed 21: Game 2, Game 9, Game 16, Game 19 and Game 21
  • Seed 22: Game 5, Game 12, Game 17, Game 20 and Game 21

How this list was compiled: Layout worked out by Wheel of Teams. Twenty-two teams go on a 32-line sheet; Seeds 23 to 32 do not exist, so the ten seeds drawn against them, Seeds 1 to 10, get byes and Seeds 11 to 22 play the six opening games. Two scripts written separately agree on all 21 games. The court figures were re-checked by an exact search of the schedule: six courts need six slots, and seven courts are the fewest that finish in five. Checked on 2026-09-18: the seeding rule and the round names against https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-elimination_tournament, and byes for the highest ranked teams against https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bye_%28sports%29. Licence: own work