How to create top and bottom playoff brackets in one division (2nd Playoff)

To give a division's top teams and bottom teams their own playoff brackets, check Playoff and 2nd Playoff for the division. Seed the first bracket from the top of the standings, and seed the 2nd Playoff By Standings with the Playoff Seed Source Next - Regular Season, so it starts with the first team the top bracket leaves out. Then create each bracket on 4 Create Schedule.

Applies to: Admins and schedulers · Enhanced, Elite and Enterprise plans (a 3rd or 4th bracket: Elite and Enterprise) · League divisions (tournament divisions use their own Bracket pages)

Where: Schedules > Leagues & Divisions > (division) > 1 Configuration > Scheduling, then 4 Create Schedule > Playoff and 2nd Playoff

Step 1: Turn on the 2nd Playoff

Go to Schedules > Leagues & Divisions and click the division's Edit Division icon (pencil). Its 1 Configuration > Scheduling page opens.
Under Division Schedule Types, check Playoff and 2nd Playoff. The 2nd Playoff Configurations section appears below Playoff Configurations.

Step 2: Set up the top bracket

In Playoff Configurations:

Choose the Playoff Type, for example Single Elimination No Consolation.
Set # of Playoff Teams to the number of teams in the top bracket, for example 5 Teams.
Set Playoff Seed Method to By Standings.
Set Playoff Seed Source to Top - Regular Season.

Step 3: Set up the bottom bracket

In 2nd Playoff Configurations:

Choose the Playoff Type. Any type except Manual works here: with Manual, Next - Regular Season isn't offered.
Set # of Playoff Teams to the number of teams in the bottom bracket, usually the teams the top bracket leaves out.
Set Playoff Seed Method to By Standings.
Set Playoff Seed Source to Next - Regular Season.
If Playoff Version appears in either section, choose a bracket layout.
Check that Day of First Game is set, and click Save.

For example, in a 10-team division with 5 Teams in the Playoff, a 2nd Playoff of 5 Teams seeded with Next - Regular Season gets the teams in 6th to 10th place. The 6th-place team is the bottom bracket's top seed.

Step 4: Create both brackets

On Leagues & Divisions, open the division's More Options menu and choose 4 Create Schedule > Playoff.
Click Create, change any game's Week or Time Slot if needed, and click Calc & Save.
Choose 4 Create Schedule > 2nd Playoff and click Create.
Give each 2nd Playoff game a Time Slot or Week that no game on the Playoff page uses, and click Calc & Save.

Each bracket's Create puts round 1 in the week after the regular season and fills your time slots in list order, so the two brackets start out on the same fields at the same times. Calc & Save checks only the games in the bracket you're saving, so it won't stop the two brackets from sharing a time slot. Both brackets use the division's 3 Time Slots list.

What you'll see

After each Create: "Your playoff schedule has been created for you to review." The games are grouped by round, with a bracket diagram below them (except for the Manual and Position Rounds types).
Until every regular-season game has a result, the top bracket shows standings places such as 1st and 4th, and the bottom bracket shows the places it will take, such as 6th and 10th.
Once every regular-season game has a result, both brackets fill in with team names, and winners move on as you enter playoff scores.

Pick the bottom bracket's teams yourself (Manual seeding)

If the bottom bracket isn't simply the next places in the standings, for example because some teams opt out, choose its teams yourself:

In 2nd Playoff Configurations, set Playoff Seed Method to Manual (or Manual Across Divisions to pick teams from your other divisions of the same sport). Leave Playoff Seed Source at N/A - Not Configured.
Set # of Playoff Teams to the number of teams in the bottom bracket, and click Save.
On 4 Create Schedule > 2nd Playoff, click Create. Each first-round spot shows TBD.
In each first-round game, choose a team in the Home and Away lists. Check that each team appears only once.
Click Calc & Save.

Teams you pick show in the bracket right away; manual seeding doesn't wait for the regular season to finish. For the details, see How to manually seed a playoff bracket (choose which teams play).

If it doesn't work

"You must have a Playoff to enable the 2nd Playoff." Check Playoff as well as 2nd Playoff.
"2nd Bracket Configurations selections required." 2nd Playoff is checked, but its settings are still N/A - Not Configured. Choose them, or uncheck 2nd Playoff.
"The 2nd Playoff section has 4 configurations -- Playoff Type, Number of Playoff Teams, Playoff Seed Method, and Playoff Seed Source. To enable a 2nd Playoff for this Division you need to make a selection from all 4 configurations." Choose the Playoff Type, # of Playoff Teams and Playoff Seed Method in 2nd Playoff Configurations.
"Review your 2nd Bracket 'Playoff Seed Source'. A selection required." By Standings needs a seed source. Choose Next - Regular Season.
Next - Regular Season isn't in the list. It's offered only when the Playoff Seed Method is By Standings and the Playoff Type isn't Manual. The first bracket never offers it.
There's no 2nd Playoff box. Your plan doesn't include it (it's in Enhanced, Elite and Enterprise), or your admin role doesn't. After TeamSideline adds it, sign out and back in.
The settings are grayed out with "To change, delete playoff schedule first." That bracket's schedule already exists. On its 4 Create Schedule page, click Delete, change the settings, click Save, and create it again. Each bracket locks on its own, and its box under Division Schedule Types can't be unchecked while its schedule exists.
The bottom bracket shows the same places as the top one (1st, 2nd and so on). Its Playoff Seed Source is Top - Regular Season, which starts from 1st place again. Delete the 2nd Playoff schedule, change the source to Next - Regular Season, and create it again.
There's no Create button. The page asks you to "complete all required Division Configuration page items, create a minimum of Teams on the Teams page based on your playoff configuration, and create the minimum number of Time Slots on the Time Slots & Location page." For a bracket seeded By Standings, 2 Teams needs at least that bracket's # of Playoff Teams, and 3 Time Slots needs at least half as many time slots.
A bottom-bracket spot never fills in and keeps showing a place such as 11th. The two brackets together ask for more places than the division has teams. Delete the 2nd Playoff schedule, lower its # of Playoff Teams, and create it again.

Good to know

Three or four brackets (Elite and Enterprise plans): check 3rd Playoff and seed it with Next - Regular Season (3rd), which starts after the first two brackets' teams. Next - Regular Season on the 3rd Playoff starts right after the first bracket's teams, the same places as the 2nd Playoff. The 4th Playoff also offers Next - Regular Season (4th), which starts after the first three brackets' teams.
Bracket names: on the division's 1 Configuration > Display page, under Standings Page Section and Column Names, the Playoff Schedule 2 and Playoff Brackets 2 fields set the bottom bracket's headings, for example Silver Bracket.
Seeding By Standings uses the regular-season standings, and the brackets fill in only after every regular-season game has a result. On Edit Scores, set any game that won't be played to Canceled or Score not kept so it doesn't hold the brackets back.
Before the brackets are seeded, their games have no teams, so they don't show on Team Sites or in the TeamSideline app yet.

Search

Welcome to Support