30 Team Tournament Bracket

Fourteen opening games, a full round of 16 and only two byes, for Seeds 1 and 2.

30 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.

30 teams, single elimination: 29 games in 5 rounds. Seeds 1 and 2 have a bye.

Seed 1: 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 Six pools of five first? Each is a 5 team round robinPool winners into a knockout: 8 team bracket

30 Team Tournament Bracket: how it works

In a 30 team tournament bracket only Seeds 1 and 2 get a bye: the sheet has 32 lines and its last two places are empty. The other 28 teams play 14 opening games, from 16 v 17 down to 15 v 18. Twenty-nine single elimination games, five rounds.

What the two byes change

Seed 1 waits in Game 15 for the 16 v 17 winner, and Seed 2 in Game 22 for the 15 v 18 winner. Those two need four wins for the title, the other 28 five. The line that matters runs between 2nd and 3rd: Seed 3 has to play an extra game, against Seed 30. If seeds hold, the quarterfinals are 1 v 8, 5 v 4, 3 v 6 and 7 v 2.

Slots, and why nothing overlaps round one

One court needs 29 slots. Two courts need 15, three need 11, four need 9 and eight need 6. With only two byes there is no game between rested seeds to run beside the opening round: every round of 16 game waits on at least one result. Games 15 and 22 wait on just one each, Game 1 and Game 14.

Tips

  • Two more entries make 32, and then no team needs a bye. The Teams box goes up to 32 without losing a name.
  • At least 14 teams play only one game. Put that on the entry form.
  • Play Games 1 and 14 in the first slot. On four courts the fourth slot then has two courts free, and Games 15 and 22 can fill them.

Questions and answers

What if 29 or 31 teams enter?

Set the Teams box to the real count. With 29, Seed 3 gains a bye and the day is 28 games. With 31, Seed 2 loses its bye and plays Seed 31, so only Seed 1 sits out. If Seed 30 drops out after printing, cross it off and move Seed 3 straight into Game 19.

How long does a 30 team bracket take?

On four courts the floor is nine slots: four and a half hours at 30 minutes a game, six and three quarters at 45. On two courts it is 15 slots, seven and a half hours of 30 minute games. A floor has no breaks and lets a winner play twice running.

Would pools suit 30 teams better?

It depends on how many games you can host. The bracket takes 29. Six pools of five, each a 5 team round robin, give every team four games, but that is 60 games before any knockout. One middle road: the six pool winners and two best runners-up go into an 8 team bracket, 67 games in all.

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Every game in the 30-team bracket

30 teams, single elimination: 29 games in 5 rounds. Seeds 1 and 2 have a bye.

Games of the 30-team bracket, in playing order
GameRoundTeamsWinner goes toNotes
1Round 1Seed 16 vs Seed 17Game 15One seed place apart, the closest opening game on paper, and the only opening game in the top half whose winner meets a rested team.
2Round 1Seed 9 vs Seed 24Game 16If both favorites win Games 2 and 3, the round of 16 gets Seed 9 against Seed 8, one place apart.
3Round 1Seed 8 vs Seed 25Game 16
4Round 1Seed 5 vs Seed 28Game 17Twenty-three seed places apart.
5Round 1Seed 12 vs Seed 21Game 17
6Round 1Seed 13 vs Seed 20Game 18
7Round 1Seed 4 vs Seed 29Game 18Seed 4's game closes the top half. It is in the other quarter from Seed 1, so the two cannot meet before the semifinal, Game 27.
8Round 1Seed 3 vs Seed 30Game 19Seed 3 is the best team without a bye and draws the last team in, the widest gap of the opening round. This game opens the bottom half.
9Round 1Seed 14 vs Seed 19Game 19
10Round 1Seed 11 vs Seed 22Game 20
11Round 1Seed 6 vs Seed 27Game 20Twenty-one seed places apart. If seeds hold, Seed 6 meets Seed 3 in the quarterfinal, Game 25.
12Round 1Seed 7 vs Seed 26Game 21Seed 7 shares this quarter of the sheet with Seed 2 and is lined up to meet it in the quarterfinal, Game 26.
13Round 1Seed 10 vs Seed 23Game 21
14Round 1Seed 15 vs Seed 18Game 22Three seed places apart. Seed 2 holds the other bye and is waiting for the winner.
15Round of 16Seed 1 vs Winner of Game 1Game 23Seed 1's first game of the day, and one of only two round of 16 games with a rested team in it. It needs only Game 1 to be finished, so it can be played before the rest of the opening round is over. If seeds hold: Seed 1 v Seed 16.
16Round of 16Winner of Game 2 vs Winner of Game 3Game 23If seeds hold: Seed 9 v Seed 8, the tightest game of the round on paper. Both teams have already played once.
17Round of 16Winner of Game 4 vs Winner of Game 5Game 24If seeds hold: Seed 5 v Seed 12.
18Round of 16Winner of Game 6 vs Winner of Game 7Game 24If seeds hold: Seed 13 v Seed 4.
19Round of 16Winner of Game 8 vs Winner of Game 9Game 25If seeds hold: Seed 3 v Seed 14.
20Round of 16Winner of Game 10 vs Winner of Game 11Game 25If seeds hold: Seed 11 v Seed 6.
21Round of 16Winner of Game 12 vs Winner of Game 13Game 26If seeds hold: Seed 7 v Seed 10.
22Round of 16Seed 2 vs Winner of Game 14Game 26Seed 2's first game. It needs only Game 14 to be finished. Every other team left in the bottom half has already played at least once. If seeds hold: Seed 2 v Seed 15.
23QuarterfinalWinner of Game 15 vs Winner of Game 16Game 27If seeds hold: Seed 1 v Seed 8, with Seed 1 in its second game of the day and Seed 8 in its third.
24QuarterfinalWinner of Game 17 vs Winner of Game 18Game 27If seeds hold: Seed 5 v Seed 4, the tightest quarterfinal on paper.
25QuarterfinalWinner of Game 19 vs Winner of Game 20Game 28If seeds hold: Seed 3 v Seed 6.
26QuarterfinalWinner of Game 21 vs Winner of Game 22Game 28If seeds hold: Seed 7 v Seed 2.
27SemifinalWinner of Game 23 vs Winner of Game 24Game 29If seeds hold: Seed 1 v Seed 4.
28SemifinalWinner of Game 25 vs Winner of Game 26Game 29If seeds hold: Seed 3 v Seed 2.
29FinalWinner of Game 27 vs Winner of Game 28ChampionIf seeds hold: Seed 1 v Seed 2, the two bye seeds, each in its fourth game. Any other finalist is playing a fifth.

Each seed's path to the title 30

  • Seed 1: Game 15, Game 23, Game 27 and Game 29 Bye in round 1.
  • Seed 2: Game 22, Game 26, Game 28 and Game 29 Bye in round 1.
  • Seed 3: Game 8, Game 19, Game 25, Game 28 and Game 29
  • Seed 4: Game 7, Game 18, Game 24, Game 27 and Game 29
  • Seed 5: Game 4, Game 17, Game 24, Game 27 and Game 29
  • Seed 6: Game 11, Game 20, Game 25, Game 28 and Game 29
  • Seed 7: Game 12, Game 21, Game 26, Game 28 and Game 29
  • Seed 8: Game 3, Game 16, Game 23, Game 27 and Game 29
  • Seed 9: Game 2, Game 16, Game 23, Game 27 and Game 29
  • Seed 10: Game 13, Game 21, Game 26, Game 28 and Game 29
  • Seed 11: Game 10, Game 20, Game 25, Game 28 and Game 29
  • Seed 12: Game 5, Game 17, Game 24, Game 27 and Game 29
  • Seed 13: Game 6, Game 18, Game 24, Game 27 and Game 29
  • Seed 14: Game 9, Game 19, Game 25, Game 28 and Game 29
  • Seed 15: Game 14, Game 22, Game 26, Game 28 and Game 29
  • Seed 16: Game 1, Game 15, Game 23, Game 27 and Game 29
  • Seed 17: Game 1, Game 15, Game 23, Game 27 and Game 29
  • Seed 18: Game 14, Game 22, Game 26, Game 28 and Game 29
  • Seed 19: Game 9, Game 19, Game 25, Game 28 and Game 29
  • Seed 20: Game 6, Game 18, Game 24, Game 27 and Game 29
  • Seed 21: Game 5, Game 17, Game 24, Game 27 and Game 29
  • Seed 22: Game 10, Game 20, Game 25, Game 28 and Game 29
  • Seed 23: Game 13, Game 21, Game 26, Game 28 and Game 29
  • Seed 24: Game 2, Game 16, Game 23, Game 27 and Game 29
  • Seed 25: Game 3, Game 16, Game 23, Game 27 and Game 29
  • Seed 26: Game 12, Game 21, Game 26, Game 28 and Game 29
  • Seed 27: Game 11, Game 20, Game 25, Game 28 and Game 29
  • Seed 28: Game 4, Game 17, Game 24, Game 27 and Game 29
  • Seed 29: Game 7, Game 18, Game 24, Game 27 and Game 29
  • Seed 30: Game 8, Game 19, Game 25, Game 28 and Game 29

How this list was compiled: Layout worked out by Wheel of Teams. Thirty teams go on a 32-line sheet; Seeds 31 and 32 do not exist, so Seeds 1 and 2 get the two byes and the other 28 teams play the 14 opening games. Two scripts written separately agree on all 29 games. The pool arithmetic on this page (ten games in a pool of five) is a count of pairs. 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