MLB playoff bracket maker
The real bracket, byes and all. Pick every series through the World Series, then print it or send it to the group chat.
This season's bracket
Seeded from the live standings. Pick a winner in every series and they advance - 0 of 11 called.
Wild Card Series best-of-3, Division Series best-of-5, League Championship Series best-of-7, World Series best-of-7.
Want it to score itself?
Run this bracket as a free pool - everyone fills theirs in, results score automatically, and the leaderboard settles who actually called it.
How the bracket works
An MLB playoff bracket is twelve teams and eleven series: six from each league, a bye for the top two seeds, and a path that is fixed from the first pitch. Fill in who survives each round and they move on - change your mind about a Wild Card pick and everything downstream clears, so the bracket never shows a team that has already gone home.
- Start from the real bracket. The 12-team MLB playoffs bracket loads with this season's seeding already in place - 6 teams from each league, AL on one side and NL on the other.
- Pick a winner in every series. Click the team you think survives and they move into the next round. Change your mind and later rounds clear themselves, so the bracket can never show a team that is no longer playing.
- Follow it to the final. Work through Wild Card Series, Division Series, League Championship Series and World Series until one team is left holding the trophy.
- Copy it or make it count. Print it, copy your picks into the group chat, or run the same bracket as a free pool so it scores itself against the real results.
No sign-up, nothing saved, nothing to install. Refresh and you're back to the real seeding.
How the MLB playoffs bracket is decided
12 teams, 4 rounds, one trophy.
Twelve teams, six a side
Each league sends its three division winners, seeded 1 to 3 on record, and three wild cards, seeded 4 to 6. The division title outranks the record: a division winner with a worse record than a wild card still gets the higher seed.
The top two seeds get a bye
Seeds 1 and 2 in each league skip the Wild Card Series. The other four play 3 v 6 and 4 v 5, and the higher seed hosts every game of that series.
The bracket does not re-seed
The path is fixed from the start: the 1 seed meets the 4 v 5 winner and the 2 seed meets the 3 v 6 winner, whoever they turn out to be. That is the opposite of the NFL, where the top seed always draws the lowest survivor.
Three, five, seven, seven
The Wild Card Series is best-of-three, the Division Series best-of-five, and the League Championship Series and World Series are best-of-seven. The short opening round is why the wild card is baseball's likeliest place for an upset.
The bracket above follows those rules exactly - it is the same structure the MLB playoffs is actually played on, not a generic knockout ladder.
FAQ
How does the MLB playoff bracket work?+
Six teams make it from each league: the three division winners, seeded 1 to 3, and three wild cards, seeded 4 to 6. Seeds 1 and 2 get a bye. The Wild Card Series is 3 v 6 and 4 v 5, then the 1 seed meets the 4 v 5 winner and the 2 seed meets the 3 v 6 winner in the Division Series. The two survivors in each league play the League Championship Series, and the AL and NL champions meet in the World Series.
Does the MLB bracket re-seed?+
No. Once the seeds are set, every path is fixed - the 1 seed gets the 4 v 5 winner whoever that turns out to be. That is why this bracket advances a team straight into the next slot, and why it is the opposite of the NFL, which re-seeds after every round.
Who gets a bye in the MLB playoffs?+
The top two seeds in each league - four teams in all. They skip the Wild Card Series and go straight to the Division Series.
How long is each MLB playoff series?+
The Wild Card Series is best-of-three, with the higher seed hosting every game. The Division Series is best-of-five, and the League Championship Series and World Series are best-of-seven.
Can I print the bracket?+
Yes. Fill in as much or as little as you want and hit Print - you get the bracket alone on a landscape page, dark on white, with your picks in it.
Can I run this as a bracket pool with my friends?+
That's the version that scores itself. Run a free MLB playoff bracket pool on Trofeo.live, everyone fills in their own bracket, results grade automatically against the real series, and a live leaderboard settles who actually called it. Free for groups up to 10.
Is it free?+
Completely free, no login, no spreadsheet. Fill in and print as many brackets as you like. The only optional paid step is running a pool bigger than 10 players.