A division's playoffs can use any of these Playoff Types: Single Elimination No Consolation, Single Elimination With Consolation, Single Elimination With Semi-Final Consolation, Double Elimination, 2 Game Guarantee, 3 Game Guarantee, Best Match - Single Game, Position Rounds (1 to 4 games) or Manual. The basic types are on every plan for up to 16 teams; the other types, and brackets of more than 16 teams, need the Tournament module.
Applies to: Admins and schedulers · All plans (some types and more than 16 teams: Tournament module; 2nd Playoff: Enhanced, Elite and Enterprise; 3rd and 4th Playoff: Elite and Enterprise) · Standard and Tournament divisions
Where: Schedules > Leagues & Divisions > Edit Division > 1 Configuration > Scheduling > Playoff Configurations > Playoff Type
Playoff types and team limits
"Max Team Configurations" is part of the Tournament module. Without it, the # of Playoff Teams list stops at 16.
| Playoff Type | How it works | # of Playoff Teams | Available with |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single Elimination No Consolation | Winners move on each round until one team is left. | 2 to 16; 2 to 32 with Max Team Configurations | All plans |
| Single Elimination With Consolation | Single elimination, plus a second (consolation) bracket for teams that lose, with its own winner. | 4 to 16; 4 to 24 with Max Team Configurations | Tournament module |
| Single Elimination With Semi-Final Consolation | Single elimination, plus one extra game between the two semi-final losers to decide 3rd and 4th place. | 4 to 16; 4 to 32 with Max Team Configurations | All plans |
| Double Elimination | A team is out after its second loss. | 2 to 16; 2 to 32 with Max Team Configurations | All plans |
| 2 Game Guarantee | Single elimination where only teams that lose their first game drop to a losers' bracket, so every team plays at least two games. A team that wins its first game and then loses is out. | 5 to 16 | Tournament module |
| 3 Game Guarantee | Like double elimination, but a team that loses its second game goes back into the losers' bracket, so every team plays at least three games. | 4 to 16; 4 to 26 with Max Team Configurations | Tournament module |
| Best Match - Single Game | Each team plays one game against an opponent based on their places in the standings. | Even numbers from 2 to 16; with Max Team Configurations, even numbers up to 36, and 48 | All plans |
| Position Rounds - 1 Game, 2 Games, 3 Games or 4 Games | Teams play the chosen number of games against teams near them in the standings. No bracket diagram. | 2 to 16; 2 to 20 with Max Team Configurations | Tournament module |
| Manual | You add each playoff game yourself. No bracket diagram. | Manual (any number of teams) | All plans |
How to choose a division's playoff type
- Go to Schedules > Leagues & Divisions.
- Click the Edit Division icon on the division. Its 1 Configuration > Scheduling page opens.
- Under Division Schedule Types, check Playoff. To run more than one bracket, also check 2nd Playoff, 3rd Playoff or 4th Playoff.
- Under Playoff Configurations, choose the Playoff Type.
- Choose the # of Playoff Teams.
- If Playoff Version appears, choose the version your league uses.
- Choose the Playoff Seed Method: By Standings, Manual or Manual Across Divisions. With By Standings, set Playoff Seed Source to Top - Regular Season.
- Repeat steps 4 to 7 in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Playoff Configurations sections you turned on, then click Save.
Then build each bracket on 4 Create Schedule > Playoff (or 2nd Playoff, 3rd Playoff, 4th Playoff) with the Create button. See the related article on making a playoff bracket for the full steps.
Tournament divisions
A Tournament division (Division Type Tournament, Tournament module) has its own 1 Configuration > Scheduling page with Pool Play, Bracket, 2nd Bracket, 3rd Bracket and 4th Bracket. Each bracket's configuration uses the same types and team limits, with the labels Tournament Type, Seed Method (By Standings or Manual), # of Teams and Playoff Version.
Pool Play isn't a bracket type. It's a separate schedule of pool games, set with Pool Play Games/Team (1 to 10), that can come before the brackets.
What you'll see
- Playoff Version appears only when TeamSideline has more than one bracket layout for the type and number of teams you chose. The layouts differ in game order.
- Types that need the Tournament module don't appear in the Playoff Type list without it, and # of Playoff Teams stops at 16.
- After you create the playoff schedule, 4 Create Schedule shows a bracket diagram for every type except Manual and Position Rounds.
- Once a playoff schedule exists, its Playoff Configurations are locked, with the note "To change, delete playoff schedule first."
If it doesn't work
- "Playoff Configurations selections required." Playoff is checked but nothing is chosen. Choose the Playoff Type, # of Playoff Teams and Playoff Seed Method, or uncheck Playoff.
- "The Division Playoff section has 4 configurations -- Playoff Type, Number of Playoff Teams, Playoff Seed Method, and Playoff Seed Source. To enable Playoffs for this Division you need to make a selection from all 4 configurations." Only some of the playoff fields are filled in. Fill in all of them.
- "Review your Division Playoff 'Playoff Seed Source'. A selection is required." By Standings needs a seed source. Choose Top - Regular Season.
- The type you want isn't in the list, or the team count stops at 16. Those options are part of the Tournament module. Ask TeamSideline about adding it.
- There's no 2nd, 3rd or 4th Playoff checkbox. 2nd Playoff comes with the Enhanced, Elite and Enterprise plans; 3rd and 4th Playoff come with Elite and Enterprise.
- "Error creating schedule." on 4 Create Schedule, with a request to contact support. TeamSideline doesn't have a ready-made bracket for that type and number of teams, even though the list offers it (for example Single Elimination With Consolation for more than 24 teams, or 3 Game Guarantee for more than 26). Choose a different number of teams or type, use Manual to add the games yourself, or contact support and include the division name.
- The Playoff Type is grayed out. The playoff schedule has already been created. Delete it on 4 Create Schedule first if you need a different type.
Good to know
- A division can have up to four playoff brackets: Playoff, 2nd Playoff, 3rd Playoff and 4th Playoff, for example a top-teams bracket and a bottom-teams bracket. Each has its own type and number of teams. A bracket keeps one Playoff Type for all its rounds, so for a format that changes partway, such as single elimination followed by double elimination, build the later stage as another bracket, for example a 2nd Playoff with Manual seeding.
- Some types and team counts have more than one bracket layout, chosen with Playoff Version. Double Elimination has a USA Softball layout for 9, 22 and 26 teams, a Babe Ruth/Cal Ripken layout for 15 teams and Alternate Version A for 5 to 8 and 10 teams. Single Elimination With Consolation has Alternate Version A or B for some team counts from 5 to 16, and 3 Game Guarantee has Alternate Version A for 8 teams.
- A regular-season schedule for more than 20 teams also needs the Tournament module, or the Enhanced, Elite or Enterprise plan. Without it, 4 Create Schedule shows a message and suggests importing a schedule or creating a manual one.
- With Manual Across Divisions, you seed the bracket by hand and can pick teams from other divisions of the same team type.