How to Run Playoff Brackets for Your Rec League

When the regular season wraps up, it's time for playoffs. Rosterlytic's bracket system handles everything from seeding to automatic advancement, so commissioners can focus on the games instead of the logistics.

Creating a bracket

Commissioners create brackets from the Admin tab or the Playoffs tab on the stats screen:

1. Tap Create Bracket
2. Enter a name (e.g., "Spring 2026 Playoffs")
3. Choose the bracket size — 2, 4, 8, or 16 teams
4. Set the default series length — Single game (1), Best of 3, Best of 5, or Best of 7

The bracket starts in draft status, which means you can configure everything before it goes live.

Seeding teams

During the draft phase, you'll assign teams to bracket seeds:

• Rosterlytic auto-seeds teams based on current standings (wins first, then point differential)
• You can manually reorder seeds using the up/down arrows if you want a different arrangement
• Standard bracket seeding applies: 1 vs. 8, 2 vs. 7, 3 vs. 6, 4 vs. 5 (for an 8-team bracket)

If you have fewer teams than bracket slots, the remaining slots become byes — those teams advance automatically when the bracket is activated.

Activating the bracket

Once you're happy with the seeding:

1. Open the bracket
2. Tap Start Bracket
3. Confirm

This transitions the bracket from draft to active. Several things happen automatically:

• All first-round matchups are created
• Bye teams are automatically advanced to their next-round matchup
• Seeding is locked — you can no longer reorder teams

You need at least 2 teams seeded to activate.

Understanding series

Each matchup in the bracket is a series. The series length determines how many games it takes to advance:

• Single game (1) — One game, winner advances
• Best of 3 — First to 2 wins advances
• Best of 5 — First to 3 wins advances
• Best of 7 — First to 4 wins advances

The default series length is set when you create the bracket, but commissioners can customize the length per matchup before the first game is played in that matchup.

Playing bracket games

Creating games

Bracket games are created one at a time as the series progresses:

1. Open the bracket and tap a matchup
2. Tap Create Next Game
3. The game is created and you're taken to the edit screen to set the date, time, and location

Games are numbered automatically (Game 1, Game 2, etc.) within each series.

Entering scores

Score bracket games the same way as regular games:

1. Open the game from the matchup detail screen
2. Enter both teams' scores
3. Save

When a score is entered, Rosterlytic automatically:

• Updates the series win count
• Checks if the series is clinched (e.g., 2 wins in a best-of-3)
• Marks the matchup as completed if a winner is determined
• Advances the winner to the next round
• Activates the next matchup when both teams are determined

You cannot create more games once a series is clinched, and scores on completed series are locked.

Bracket games and standings

Bracket games are automatically excluded from regular season standings. They won't affect your team's W-L-T record or league points. This is handled behind the scenes so you don't need to worry about it.

Matchup details

Tap any matchup in the bracket to see its full details:

• Both teams with their seed numbers
• Series progress — Visual indicators showing wins for each team
• Games list — All games played in the series with scores and dates
• Series status — Pending, active, or completed
• Winner display — When the series is decided

Swapping home/away

Commissioners can swap the home and away teams in a matchup before any games are played. This is useful if seeding resulted in an undesirable home/away assignment.

Byes

When your bracket size is larger than the number of teams (e.g., 8-team bracket with 6 teams), the top seeds receive byes:

• Byes are assigned automatically based on seeding
• When the bracket is activated, bye teams advance immediately
• If a bye cascades through multiple rounds (rare), that's handled automatically too

Championships

When the final matchup of a bracket is completed, the winner is declared champion. You'll see:

• A champion banner with a trophy icon at the top of the bracket
• The championship is counted in the team's championship total
• Championship counts appear in the standings table trophy column

Championship tracking works across all seasons, so you can see which teams have the most titles in league history. For more on how commissioners manage the full season lifecycle, see the league management guide.

Resetting a bracket

If something went wrong or you need to start over:

1. Open the bracket
2. Tap Reset Bracket
3. Confirm

This deletes all bracket games and series results, and returns the bracket to draft status. Your original seeding is preserved so you can adjust and reactivate. This cannot be undone.

Viewing brackets

All league members can view brackets from the Playoffs tab on the stats screen. Brackets are organized by round:

• Quarterfinals (or First Round)
• Semifinals
• Finals

Each matchup card shows the teams, seed numbers, series score, and status. Tap any matchup to see the full details and game history.

Tips

• Seed based on standings — The auto-seed feature uses current standings which is usually the fairest approach
• Set series length before the first game — You can't change it once games have been played in that matchup
• Create games one at a time — This keeps scheduling flexible in case dates need to change as the series progresses
• Check the Playoffs tab regularly — As a member, it's the easiest way to follow bracket progress
• Use reset carefully — It deletes all bracket game data permanently