Tournament Divisions

Every tournament requires at least one division per group to be created in order to schedule games. Brackets has two "types" of divisions, Round-Robin and Elimination.

Round-Robin Divisions

Round-Robin play is a format where teams compete against other teams within their division. Typically, the top teams from these divisions advance to the Semi-Finals or Championship rounds. Some tournaments may use a single pool for their round-robin, while others divide teams into multiple pools (e.g., Pool A, Pool B, Pool C). The number of teams in your group, along with the number of guaranteed round-robin games, will usually determine how many pools are needed.

In Brackets, a Round-Robin division will create "Standings" for each Pool.

Elimination Divisions

The second type of divisions are "Eliminations" which are typically used for 1/4 finals, Semi-Finals and Championship "rounds" but can also be used for those tournaments who run a single or double knock-out event and not needing standings.

To create divisions in Brackets, navigate to Schedules—>Divisions & Settings

Click the Divisions Wizard button at the top-right of the page and a window will open.

1. Select all of the groups to create similar divisions. For example if U11, U13 and U15 will have 2 Pools and U18 will have 3 pools, leave U18 unchecked and repeat this step separately for that group.
2. How many Pools will these groups have?
3. Will you be awarding teams bonus points ie for winning the period.. ?
4. Will you be running 1/4 finals? Typically used when your group has 16+ teams.
5. Will you have semi-final games?
6. Do you want to combine the 1/4 finals, semi-finals or finals into 1 single division (which will be named Championships)?
7. Insert & Close (if your done) or Insert & Add Another to add divisions for any groups you did not originally check.

After completing your Division Wizard successfully, your table should look similar to below.

1. Division Abbreviation. The Division Wizard will combine parts of the Group and the Division name to automatically create an abbreviation.
2. Division Name. This name should identify the round, ie Pool A or Pool B, Group 1, Group 2, Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals or Championship
3. Format. This is the type of division - Round Robin (RR), Round Robin with BONUS (RR**) or Elimination (ELIM)
4. W/L/T. This is the point system awarded for the Round Robin games.
5. Dur. This is the duration of the game + any ice resurfacing or field change over time. ie 60 mins for the game + 10 minutes for the flood. Total Duration = 70 minutes.
6. Rest. The minimum amount of time a team must have for rest in between games (in minutes). This calculation is from the end of the game until the start of their next game.
7. Desc. How long are the periods lengths
8. Shown. Do you want the team names visible on the public side schedule? Yes= names are visible, Hidden=Team Names will be shown as Pending.
9. #T. Number of teams in the Tournament, Group & Division
10. #G. Number of games in the Tournament, Group & Division

Custom settings can be applied to specific groups or divisions. Double click on the division line and a window will open.

1. Background Colour. This is very useful visual aid for scheduling if each group have a separate colour.
2. Points for the win, loss, tie.
3. Period Length
4. Game Slot Length. This is total time for the game + ice resurfacing/field turnover + awards (during championship rounds. You may even consider adding additional time for Overtime/Extra Innings.
5. The minimum amount of time a team must have for rest in between games (in minutes). This calculation is from the end of the game until the start of their next game.

Sample

With your division(s) added, you can proceed with scheduling games. Our auto-scheduler is a great tool available to Brackets Full-Version users.

Need more assistance, click here for our Youtube video.