Eight is the friendliest bracket size: no byes, three rounds and seven games, small enough to fit on one sheet with room to write. It’s a common size for a class tournament, a game night or the knockout stage after a group round.
The quarterfinal draw
| Quarterfinal | Matchup | Feeds |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Seed 1 v seed 8 | Semifinal A |
| 2 | Seed 4 v seed 5 | Semifinal A |
| 3 | Seed 2 v seed 7 | Semifinal B |
| 4 | Seed 3 v seed 6 | Semifinal B |
Type the eight teams in ranking order to get this draw, or choose Pair in list order if your matchups are already fixed (the first two names play each other, then the next two). On a wide screen the whole bracket fits at once; on a phone, Round by round shows the four quarterfinals as big buttons.
Running it
With two courts, the quarterfinals take two time slots, the semifinals one and the final one, so four slots in all. Seven games at 20 minutes each, with a short break between rounds, fit into an afternoon. If you also want a third-place game, play it right after the semifinals; the bracket itself only follows the winners.
Printing
At eight teams the PDF uses large boxes that are easy to fill in by hand on a whiteboard-style printout. Tick Blank bracket for an empty sheet with seed numbers, or keep the names in and print one copy for each table so players can follow along.