Free printable bracket · Double elimination

5 team double elimination bracket

A 5-team double elimination bracket has 8 games, or 9 if the team that comes through the losers bracket wins the grand final, with 3 first-round byes for seeds 1–3.

Five teams sits in an 8-team frame, so the top three seeds skip round one and only seeds 4 and 5 play a first-round game. It's the bracket for a four-team event that picked up a late entry.

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8 +1games, plus a reset final if needed
3first-round byes
3 + 3winners + losers rounds
2–6games per team

The bracket

5 teams, 8 games, every one numbered.

Bracket

Show the bracket asBracketList

Winners bracket

Losers bracket

Championship

Winners bracket

QuarterfinalsGame 1

14Team 4v.5Team 5

Byes1 Team 1 · 2 Team 2 · 3 Team 3

SemifinalsGames 2–3

21Team 1v.Winner of Game 1
32Team 2v.3Team 3

FinalGame 4

4Winner of Game 2v.Winner of Game 3

Losers bracket

Round 2Game 5

5Loser of Game 1v.Loser of Game 3

Round 3Game 6

6Winner of Game 5v.Loser of Game 2

FinalGame 7

7Winner of Game 6v.Loser of Game 4

Championship

Grand FinalGame 8

8Winner of Game 4v.Winner of Game 7

Reset FinalGame 9

9Winners bracket championv.Losers bracket championPlayed only if the losers-bracket champion wins Game 8.

Byes

Where the byes go.

The bracket is drawn on a 8-team frame, which leaves 3 empty slots in round one. They go to the top of the draw: seeds 1–3 skip round one and start in round two (Games 2–3). Round one is 1 game between the lower seeds.

A bye isn't a win on the record. TourneyPage advances the bye teams automatically, so the page never shows a game that doesn't exist. The losers bracket inherits the gaps: a team that drops in from round one may advance without playing until the next losers round, because the opponent it was due to meet never lost a round-one game.

Game order

All 8 games in play order, and the reset final.

Game 1Winners QuarterfinalsTeam 4 vs Team 5Winner plays Team 1 in Game 2. Loser drops to Game 5.
Game 2Winners SemifinalsTeam 1 vs Winner of Game 1Winner plays the Game 3 winner in Game 4. Loser drops to Game 6.
Game 3Winners SemifinalsTeam 2 vs Team 3Winner plays the Game 2 winner in Game 4. Loser drops to Game 5.
Game 4Winners FinalWinner of Game 2 vs Winner of Game 3Winner plays the Game 7 winner for the title in Game 8. Loser drops to Game 7.
Game 5Losers Round 2Loser of Game 1 vs Loser of Game 3Winner plays the Game 2 loser in Game 6.
Game 6Losers Round 3Winner of Game 5 vs Loser of Game 2Winner plays the Game 4 loser in Game 7.
Game 7Losers FinalWinner of Game 6 vs Loser of Game 4Winner plays the Game 4 winner for the title in Game 8.
Game 8Grand FinalWinner of Game 4 vs Winner of Game 7
Game 9Reset FinalWinners bracket champion vs Losers bracket championPlayed only if the losers-bracket champion wins Game 8.

How long it takes

Roughly how long a 5-team double elimination day runs.

Minutes per gameFields or courts in use

About 5 hours. At least 6 of the 8 games have to be played one after another, so more than 2 fields won't make the day shorter.

Arithmetic, not a schedule: it ignores breaks and assumes every field stays busy. In TourneyPage you type the actual times and courts, and they show on the page.

Printable

Print it, or make it live.

5 team double elimination bracket drawn as lines, with every game numbered

The PDF is US Letter, landscape, with seed numbers on blank lines so you can write the teams in, one page each for the winners bracket, the losers bracket, and the final. Free, no sign-up, nothing on it but the bracket and this page's address.

Or skip the clipboard. The live version has the same bracket with the team names in, scores entered from a phone, standings that update, and the next games on top. Free to build and preview; $29 one-time to publish, for up to 32 teams per division.

Download the PDF Make this bracket live

Questions

Questions about a 5-team double elimination bracket.

How many games are in a 5 team double elimination bracket?

8, or 9 with the reset final. Every team except the champion loses twice, so 5 teams produce 8 games. The reset final happens only if the team from the losers bracket beats the winners-bracket champion in the grand final, which puts them at one loss each. TourneyPage lets you turn the reset off.

How do the byes work with 5 teams?

The bracket is drawn on a 8-team frame, so 3 first-round slots stay empty. Seeds 1–3 skip round one and start in round two. A bye isn't a win on the record; the team just plays one game fewer on the way to the title.

How many games does each team play?

At least 2: two losses and you're out, so even the first team eliminated plays twice. The longest road is 6 games, for a team that loses early in the winners bracket, wins every losers-bracket game, takes the grand final, and then the reset.

How long does a 5 team double elimination tournament take?

About 5 hours with 8 games at 50 minutes each on 2 fields, because at least 6 games have to be played one after another. Change the game length and the number of fields above to match your event. TourneyPage doesn't schedule the games for you; you type the times and courts you decide on, and they show on the page.

Can I print this bracket or run it live?

Both. The PDF is free, with no sign-up. "Make this bracket live" opens the TourneyPage builder with double elimination already chosen for your 5 teams; you add their names, preview the page free, and pay $29 once to publish a link everyone can open on their phone.

Other sizes

Double elimination brackets for 4 to 32 teams.

← 4-team double elimination6-team double elimination →

How double elimination works · Games, rounds, and byes for every format and size · Sports that usually run it: Cornhole, 3v3 basketball

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