The basketball world cannot live without brackets. From March Madness to the NBA playoffs, sports fans thrive on the drama of go-big-or-go-home matchups. It is the time of year when one round of high-stakes basketball ends and another begins — and the NBA playoffs are around the corner.

Every major has its own playoff format. The Masters Tournament employs sudden death. In this format, if two or more players are tied after 72 holes of regulation at Augusta National Golf Club, they will compete in a playoff until one person scores lower.

The play-in tournament is, essentially, a few qualifying rounds that fill in the remaining spots in the bracket. Among the eight teams who enter, four will leave with either the Nos. 7 or 8 seeds in hand while the other four will be sent to a summer break arriving earlier than they'd like.