Bracket Seeding and Byes
Updated
In a seeded bracket, seed 1 plays the lowest seed in round 1, seed 2 the next lowest, and so on. Seeds 1 and 2 start at opposite ends, so they can only meet in the final. When the number of teams is not 4, 8, 16, 32 or 64, the top seeds get byes.
Seed order by bracket size
Every round 1 pair adds up to the number of lines plus one: 9 on an 8-line bracket, 17 on a 16-line one. The order on the page is built by doubling. To go from 8 lines to 16, keep the 8-team order (1 vs 8, 4 vs 5, 3 vs 6 and 2 vs 7) and give each seed a partner that makes 17. Seed 1 stays at the top, seed 2 at the bottom, and seeds 3 and 4 head the other two quarters, so the top four can only meet in the semifinals.
| Teams | Round 1, top to bottom |
|---|---|
| 4 | 1 vs 4, 2 vs 3 |
| 6 | 1 vs bye, 4 vs 5, 3 vs 6, 2 vs bye |
| 8 | 1 vs 8, 4 vs 5, 3 vs 6, 2 vs 7 |
| 16 | 1 vs 16, 8 vs 9, 5 vs 12, 4 vs 13, 6 vs 11, 3 vs 14, 7 vs 10, 2 vs 15 |
| 32 | 1 vs 32, 16 vs 17, 9 vs 24, 8 vs 25, 12 vs 21, 5 vs 28, 13 vs 20, 4 vs 29, 11 vs 22, 6 vs 27, 14 vs 19, 3 vs 30, 10 vs 23, 7 vs 26, 15 vs 18, 2 vs 31 |
| 64 | 1 vs 64, 32 vs 33, 17 vs 48, 16 vs 49, 24 vs 41, 9 vs 56, 25 vs 40, 8 vs 57, 21 vs 44, 12 vs 53, 28 vs 37, 5 vs 60, 20 vs 45, 13 vs 52, 29 vs 36, 4 vs 61, 22 vs 43, 11 vs 54, 27 vs 38, 6 vs 59, 19 vs 46, 14 vs 51, 30 vs 35, 3 vs 62, 23 vs 42, 10 vs 55, 26 vs 39, 7 vs 58, 18 vs 47, 15 vs 50, 31 vs 34, 2 vs 63 |
A bye means the seed waits for round 2. The 6-team bracket is drawn on 8 lines, so seeds 1 and 2 sit out round 1.
Source: 2025 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship bracket (PDF), where each 16-team region opens 1 vs 16, 8 vs 9, 5 vs 12, 4 vs 13, 6 vs 11, 3 vs 14, 7 vs 10 and 2 vs 15 from top to bottom. Checked October 19, 2026.
Which seeds get a bye
The bracket is drawn for the next power of two, and the gap between that and the number of teams is the number of byes. They go to the top seeds, one each, so the strongest teams skip round 1 and nobody plays an extra game. With 12 teams the bracket has 16 lines, seeds 1 to 4 get byes, and seeds 5 to 12 play 4 games in round 1. Double elimination places its byes the same way.
Seeded bracket or blind draw?
Seed the bracket when you can rank the teams fairly, by this season's record, a rating or last year's finish. The best teams then meet late, and a good season earns an easier first game and the byes.
Use a blind draw when there is nothing to rank by: a first event, pickup teams, an office tournament. Draw the names out of a hat and number them in the order they come out, or let Shuffle seeds in the bracket maker do it. The byes stay with seeds 1 to 4, so with 12 teams the first 4 names drawn skip round 1. The catch is that the two best teams can meet in the first game.
Reseeding
A fixed bracket keeps its lines from start to finish, so everyone can see their path on day one. Some leagues reseed instead: after each round the remaining teams are ranked by their original seed, and the best one left plays the worst one left. Take 8 teams where seed 8 beats seed 1 and the other favorites win. On a fixed bracket the semifinals are 8 vs 4 and 3 vs 2. Reseeded, they become 2 vs 8 and 3 vs 4.
The printable brackets and the bracket maker use fixed lines, the way the single elimination and double elimination pages describe them. To reseed, start a new bracket for the next round with the teams in their new order.
Seeding questions
Why do seeds 8 and 9 play each other?
Because each round 1 pair adds up to the bracket size plus one. On 16 lines that is 17, so 8 meets 9, the two teams next to each other in the ranking. The winner meets seed 1 in the next round.
How do I seed teams in the bracket maker?
Type or paste the teams best first: the order of the list is the seeding, and the arrows next to each name move it up or down. For a blind draw, press Shuffle seeds. Open the bracket maker.