Double Elimination Brackets

In a double elimination bracket a team is out after its second loss, not its first. Every team starts in the winners bracket. A loss drops it into the losers bracket, where the next loss sends it home, and the last team standing on each side meets in the championship. The unbeaten team needs one win there. The team with a loss needs two, so the final can run to an extra game. The game count is twice the number of teams, less two, plus one if the final is replayed: 8 or 9 for five teams, 20 or 21 for eleven.

The hard part is knowing where each loser drops, and that changes with every field size. Each bracket here is built for one size, with byes placed, every game numbered in playing order and every drop marked. Type in your teams or print it blank.

Running 4, 6, 7, 12 or 16 teams? Change the Teams box on any sheet here and it redraws for that count, from 3 up to 128, with every drop still marked. The tournament bracket generator does the same job without a fixed starting size. What those other sizes do not have is a page of game-by-game notes like the five below.