64-team single elimination bracket

About a 64-team bracket

Sixty-four is the size of the main NCAA basketball bracket (after the First Four play-in games): six rounds, 63 games, the round of 64 down to the final. It prints two-sided: the top half runs left to right, the bottom half right to left, and they meet at the final in the middle, which suits a landscape page far better than one tall column.

On Letter or A4 the lines are small; Tabloid or A3 is much easier to fill in by hand, or print two copies of a 32-team bracket for each half and a separate sheet for the final four.

Byes and the first round

64 is a power of two, so there are no byes: all 64 teams play in the first round (1 v 64, 32 v 33, 16 v 49, 17 v 48, 8 v 57, 25 v 40, 9 v 56, 24 v 41, 4 v 61, 29 v 36, 13 v 52, 20 v 45, 5 v 60, 28 v 37, 12 v 53, 21 v 44, 2 v 63, 31 v 34, 15 v 50, 18 v 47, 7 v 58, 26 v 39, 10 v 55, 23 v 42, 3 v 62, 30 v 35, 14 v 51, 19 v 46, 6 v 59, 27 v 38, 11 v 54, 22 v 43). Each pairing adds up to 65, so seed 1 meets the lowest seed and seeds 1 and 2 can only meet in the final.

No seeding? Write the names in at random, or put the names into the bracket maker and choose Random draw for a reproducible draw you can print.

Round by round

Every game, in order

The same numbers as on the printed bracket, so a scorer can call out “game 5” and everyone knows where to write.

1. M1 (Round of 64): Seed 1 v Seed 64
2. M2 (Round of 64): Seed 32 v Seed 33
3. M3 (Round of 64): Seed 16 v Seed 49
4. M4 (Round of 64): Seed 17 v Seed 48
5. M5 (Round of 64): Seed 8 v Seed 57
6. M6 (Round of 64): Seed 25 v Seed 40
7. M7 (Round of 64): Seed 9 v Seed 56
8. M8 (Round of 64): Seed 24 v Seed 41
9. M9 (Round of 64): Seed 4 v Seed 61
10. M10 (Round of 64): Seed 29 v Seed 36
11. M11 (Round of 64): Seed 13 v Seed 52
12. M12 (Round of 64): Seed 20 v Seed 45
13. M13 (Round of 64): Seed 5 v Seed 60
14. M14 (Round of 64): Seed 28 v Seed 37
15. M15 (Round of 64): Seed 12 v Seed 53
16. M16 (Round of 64): Seed 21 v Seed 44
17. M17 (Round of 64): Seed 2 v Seed 63
18. M18 (Round of 64): Seed 31 v Seed 34
19. M19 (Round of 64): Seed 15 v Seed 50
20. M20 (Round of 64): Seed 18 v Seed 47
21. M21 (Round of 64): Seed 7 v Seed 58
22. M22 (Round of 64): Seed 26 v Seed 39
23. M23 (Round of 64): Seed 10 v Seed 55
24. M24 (Round of 64): Seed 23 v Seed 42
25. M25 (Round of 64): Seed 3 v Seed 62
26. M26 (Round of 64): Seed 30 v Seed 35
27. M27 (Round of 64): Seed 14 v Seed 51
28. M28 (Round of 64): Seed 19 v Seed 46
29. M29 (Round of 64): Seed 6 v Seed 59
30. M30 (Round of 64): Seed 27 v Seed 38
31. M31 (Round of 64): Seed 11 v Seed 54
32. M32 (Round of 64): Seed 22 v Seed 43
33. M33 (Round of 32): Winner of M1 v Winner of M2
34. M34 (Round of 32): Winner of M3 v Winner of M4
35. M35 (Round of 32): Winner of M5 v Winner of M6
36. M36 (Round of 32): Winner of M7 v Winner of M8
37. M37 (Round of 32): Winner of M9 v Winner of M10
38. M38 (Round of 32): Winner of M11 v Winner of M12
39. M39 (Round of 32): Winner of M13 v Winner of M14
40. M40 (Round of 32): Winner of M15 v Winner of M16
41. M41 (Round of 32): Winner of M17 v Winner of M18
42. M42 (Round of 32): Winner of M19 v Winner of M20
43. M43 (Round of 32): Winner of M21 v Winner of M22
44. M44 (Round of 32): Winner of M23 v Winner of M24
45. M45 (Round of 32): Winner of M25 v Winner of M26
46. M46 (Round of 32): Winner of M27 v Winner of M28
47. M47 (Round of 32): Winner of M29 v Winner of M30
48. M48 (Round of 32): Winner of M31 v Winner of M32
49. M49 (Round of 16): Winner of M33 v Winner of M34
50. M50 (Round of 16): Winner of M35 v Winner of M36
51. M51 (Round of 16): Winner of M37 v Winner of M38
52. M52 (Round of 16): Winner of M39 v Winner of M40
53. M53 (Round of 16): Winner of M41 v Winner of M42
54. M54 (Round of 16): Winner of M43 v Winner of M44
55. M55 (Round of 16): Winner of M45 v Winner of M46
56. M56 (Round of 16): Winner of M47 v Winner of M48
57. M57 (Quarterfinals): Winner of M49 v Winner of M50
58. M58 (Quarterfinals): Winner of M51 v Winner of M52
59. M59 (Quarterfinals): Winner of M53 v Winner of M54
60. M60 (Quarterfinals): Winner of M55 v Winner of M56
61. M61 (Semifinals): Winner of M57 v Winner of M58
62. M62 (Semifinals): Winner of M59 v Winner of M60
63. M63 (Final): Winner of M61 v Winner of M62

How long it takes

Time slots needed if each court or field plays one game per slot and a round must finish before the next starts:

Single or double elimination?

In this bracket one loss ends a team’s day, and 32 of the 64 teams are out after the first round. A 64-team double elimination bracket gives every team at least two games, at a cost of 126 or 127 games instead of 63, with a losers’ bracket of 10 rounds. The bracket maker can draw one for 64 teams.

Final placings

A finished bracket places every team. Teams knocked out in the same round share a place unless you play extra games to separate them.

• 1st: 1 team
• 2nd: 1 team
• 3rd–4th: 2 teams (or 3rd and 4th after a third-place game)
• 5th–8th: 4 teams
• 9th–16th: 8 teams
• 17th–32nd: 16 teams
• 33rd–64th: 32 teams

Printing it

The Print button prints only the bracket, landscape, scaled to one page, with a title and a date line. Smallest text on the page for each paper size (below about 6 pt it is hard to read; handwriting needs the line, not the text):

• Letter (11 × 8.5 in): about 4.1 pt
• A4 (297 × 210 mm): about 4.3 pt
• Legal (14 × 8.5 in): about 5.3 pt
• Tabloid (17 × 11 in): about 6.4 pt

Tabloid (or A3) is the best fit for this size. On Letter or A4 it still fits on one page, but the text is small: keep names short, or write team numbers.

Page last reviewed 30 September 2026.