How an 8-team single elimination bracket works
Eight is a clean number for a bracket. It's a power of two, so there are no byes and nobody sits out the first round. All 8 teams play in round one, and the field halves every round until one team is left.
That gives you three rounds and seven games total. Lose once and you're out, which keeps things moving and gives you a winner fast.
- Round 1 - Quarterfinals: 4 games (8 teams play)
- Round 2 - Semifinals: 2 games (4 teams left)
- Round 3 - Final: 1 game (2 teams left)
- Total: 3 rounds, 7 games, 0 byes
Seeding, printing, and running it live
EZ Bracket seeds the 8 teams automatically so the top seed and the bottom seed land on opposite sides and can only meet in the final. Type your names in any order and the bracket sorts the matchups for you.
Want a paper bracket for the wall? Print it. An 8-team bracket fits on one US Letter page with room to write scores by hand. No watermark, no upgrade prompt, no paywall.
Running it on a screen instead? Tap a player to send them to the next round. Tap again to undo. Set matches to best-of-1, best-of-3, or best-of-5, and watch the bracket fill toward the final.
Other ways to run 8 teams
Single elimination is the fastest format, but it's not the only one. If you want every team to get more than one game, EZ Bracket handles the same 8 teams in other formats too.
Double elimination gives each team a second life: lose once and you drop to the losers bracket, lose twice and you're out, with a grand final between the two bracket winners. Round robin has all 8 teams play each other once - that's 28 games and a full standings table, common for pool play in pickleball, cornhole, and league nights.
- Double elimination - two losses to be eliminated, with a losers bracket and grand final
- Round robin - everyone plays everyone (28 games), ranked by win-loss record
- Consolation - single elim plus a 3rd-place playoff for a bronze finish