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12 team single elimination bracket
12 team single elimination bracket: 4 rounds, 11 matches, with 4 first-round byes. See the full matchup tree, then customize it free.
Bracket layout
How the 12-team single elimination bracket works
12 is not a power of two, so the draw rounds up to a 16-slot bracket and the 4 empty slots become byes. That gives you 4 rounds of play and 11 matches in total - one fewer than the number of teams, because every match eliminates exactly one team.
How byes and seeding work
Seeds are placed with a balanced draw: seed 1 is paired against the lowest seed, seed 2 against the next lowest, and so on, so the top seeds cannot meet before the late rounds. The 4 byes go to the top 4 seeds, who skip straight to round 2 - the standard reward for seeding high. Seeding explained covers how that draw is built, and byes in a tournament bracket covers what a bye does to your schedule.