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13-Team Seeded Single-Elimination Bracket (Free Printable)

The 13-team seeded single-elimination bracket is a free, printable tournament bracket built for exactly 13 teams. Seeds are placed so the strongest teams are rewarded: the top 3 seeds receive a first-round bye, and the rest play in to meet them. Print it, pencil in your matchups, and play down to a champion.

How the 13-Team Bracket Works

13-team seeded single-elimination bracket printable

Because 13 is not a power of two, the bracket is drawn on a 16-slot frame. That leaves 3 first-round byes, which go to the top 3 seeds (seeds 1 through 3). The remaining 10 teams play 5 first-round games, and the winners join the seeded teams. From there the field narrows to eight, then four, then two, and finally a champion.

How the Seeding Works

Seeding is balanced so the best teams are kept apart as long as possible. The top seed is matched against the lowest remaining seed, the No. 2 seed lands in the opposite half of the bracket, and so on down the line. Done right, the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds can only meet in the final, and no two top seeds collide before they have to. Byes for the top 3 seeds simply carry those teams straight into the second round.

More Free Printable Brackets

Need a different size? Our printable brackets hub has seeded and blank single-elimination brackets from 4 teams up to 64, all free to print at SportsBrackets.net.

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Ra Young Founder, N3ST3D Labs, Author
Ra Young is a tech entrepreneur (N3ST3D Labs CEO), Project Controls Professional, and lifelong sports enthusiast. A 22-year Colts fan, Florida State & Iowa State alum, he cheers for FC Barcelona globally, supports Argentina/Brazil in football, and follows the Pittsburgh Penguins, All Blacks rugby, and cricket.