I need to match up people randomly for a tournament. Can I use Excel to do
this?

Using Excel to Randomly Pair Up People for a Tournament

1. Create a list of all the people who will be participating in the tournament.
2. Create two columns next to the list of people. In the first column, enter the names of the people again. In the second column, enter a random number for each person using the RAND() function.
3. Sort the list by the second column (the one with the random numbers).
4. Pair up the people in the first column by taking every two adjacent names in the list. You can do this manually or use a formula like "=A1&"-"&A2" in a third column to automatically create pairs.

Good luck with your event!

bchappell wrote on Mon, 4 Feb 2008 08:11:02 -0800:

b I need to match up people randomly for a tournament. Can I
b use Excel to do this?

Would assigning a random number to each and then sorting on the
random numbers work?

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

Say we have 50 people. Put their names in column A in A1 thru A50
In B1 thru B50 enter:
=RAND()
Sort columns A & B by column B

Pair A1 & A2
........A3 & A4
........A5 & A6
..
..
..
etc.
--
Gary''s Student - gsnu200767


"bchappell" wrote:

I need to match up people randomly for a tournament. Can I use Excel to do
this?

I tried that. The only problems was I ended up with 2 people with the same
random number. Maybe I did it incorrectly?

"James Silverton" wrote:

bchappell wrote on Mon, 4 Feb 2008 08:11:02 -0800:

b I need to match up people randomly for a tournament. Can I
b use Excel to do this?

Would assigning a random number to each and then sorting on the
random numbers work?

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

I will try this.

"Gary''s Student" wrote:

Say we have 50 people. Put their names in column A in A1 thru A50
In B1 thru B50 enter:
=RAND()
Sort columns A & B by column B

Pair A1 & A2
.......A3 & A4
.......A5 & A6
.
.
.
etc.
--
Gary''s Student - gsnu200767


"bchappell" wrote:

I need to match up people randomly for a tournament. Can I use Excel to do
this?

I figured it out. I didn't sort correctly. I have it working now.

Thanks all for the help!

"bchappell" wrote:

I will try this.

"Gary''s Student" wrote:

Say we have 50 people. Put their names in column A in A1 thru A50
In B1 thru B50 enter:
=RAND()
Sort columns A & B by column B

Pair A1 & A2
.......A3 & A4
.......A5 & A6
.
.
.
etc.
--
Gary''s Student - gsnu200767


"bchappell" wrote:

I need to match up people randomly for a tournament. Can I use Excel to do
this?

"bchappell" wrote in
message
...
I tried that. The only problems was I ended up with 2 people
with the same
random number. Maybe I did it incorrectly?

Even if you did get two people with the same number, it wouldn't
matter after sorting! Tho' they would appear sequentially in the
sorted list they migh or might not be paired.

b I need to match up people randomly for a tournament. Can
I
b use Excel to do this?

Would assigning a random number to each and then sorting on
the
random numbers work?

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not