Unless you’re an advanced VBA user, you’ll be typing team names and scores manually. There’s no drag‑and‑drop team assignment like in Tournament Bracket apps (Challonge, etc.).
To make the bracket fair, the top 8 seeds usually get the byes.
Right-to-Left in the SmartArt Design tab to make it look like a standard tournament bracket. Add shapes as needed to reach the 20-team requirement. Ready-to-Use Templates If you prefer not to build from scratch, you can download specialized templates: Vertex42 Tournament Bracket offers a printable Excel template that supports 20 teams specifically. The BracketMaker.app provides a generator that can export 20-team brackets directly to a printable format or help you visualize the layout. Bracket Maker App +1 Would you like me to provide a specific 20 team single elimination bracket excel
⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ (4/5) Best for: Tournament organizers, sports league managers, office event coordinators, and educators teaching bracket logic.
Here is an example of what the 20-team single-elimination bracket might look like: Unless you’re an advanced VBA user, you’ll be
To reduce 20 teams to 16 for the second round, 8 teams play in the first round (4 matchups), while the top 12 teams receive a "bye" and advance automatically. Description Teams Participating Round 1 Round of 32 (4 Games + 12 Byes) 8 teams play; 12 skip to Round 2 Round 2 Round of 16 16 teams (4 winners + 12 bye teams) Round 3 Quarter-Finals Round 4 Semi-Finals Round 5 Championship Final How to Build the Bracket in Excel
In the Round 2 cell, use: =IF(Score1 > Score2, Team1, Team2) . Right-to-Left in the SmartArt Design tab to make
Set a rule to bold the team name if the adjacent score is the highest in that matchup. Top Excel Templates and Resources
You can build this manually using borders or use automated tools like Microsoft 365's Copilot to generate the structure for you.
(Note: Standard bracket pairing crosses over, so Seed 1 plays the winner of the 14/15 match at the bottom of their quadrant, etc.)