Random Draw

[Fraserj]

I want to create a champions League style group draw if possible through spreadsheet
As i'm a beginner to excel I don't have a clue how to do this and I am willing to learn if possible

I have 16 teams in columns A1 to A16
I have a seeded section ranging from 1 to 4 with the aim of creating 4 group tables, as shown below

Manchester	1
Liverpool	1
Arsenal	1
Chelsea	2
Tottenham	2
Leicester	3
Villa	3
Sunderland	3
Newcastle	4
Southampton	4

<tbody>
</tbody>

I want each team not to able to draw a team with the same seeded number
for example, Liverpool, Chelsea, Villa and Southampton can all be in the same group, but Manchester and Liverpool can't
Would really appreciate any input for this one.

Thank you in advance

 

[Eric W]

Here's one way to do it:

	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
1	A	1			Group 1	Group 2	Group 3	Group 4
2	B	2			I	A	J	H
3	C	3			G	B	L	K
4	D	4			C	F	N	M
5	E	4			P	E	O	D
6	F	3
7	G	2
8	H	1
9	I	1
10	J	1
11	K	2
12	L	2
13	M	3
14	N	3
15	O	4
16	P	4

<colgroup><col style="width: 25pxpx"><col><col><col><col><col><col><col><col></colgroup><thead>
</thead><tbody>
</tbody>

Sheet2​

Array Formulas Cell Formula E2 {=INDEX($A:$A,SMALL(IF(($B$1:$B$16=ROWS(E$2:E2))*(ISNA(MATCH($A$1:$A$16,F2:$I2,0))),ROW($B$1:$B$16)),RANDBETWEEN(1,COLUMNS($E2:E2))))} <thead> </thead><tbody> </tbody> Entered with Ctrl+Shift+Enter. If entered correctly, Excel will surround with curly braces {}. Note: Do not try and enter the {} manually yourself

<tbody>
</tbody>

Enter the formula in E2 and confirm with Control-Shift-Enter. Then copy E2 and paste it across and down. Then just press F9 (recalculate) to get a new set of groups.

The formula essentially starts in H2. It compiles a list of all the #1 seeds, and randomly picks one. In G2, it compiles a list of all #1 seeds, excludes what's been picked already (H2), and randomly picks one. And so on. Row 2 will be the #1 seeds, Row 3 is the #2 seeds, etc.

Let me know if this is what you're looking for.

 

[Fraserj]

That's spot on.... If the group isn't seeded... is it possible to delete numbers and do a completely random draw or...?

 

[Eric W]

If you have an unseeded group, there's several ways. You could put the list of teams in column A, then put =RAND() in column B, copied down, then sort the columns by B.

Converting the existing formulas to handle seeds or non-seeds would be tricky. If you want a similar type formula, try this one:

	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	J	K	L
1	A	1			Group 1	Group 2	Group 3	Group 4				Random Draw
2	B	2			I	A	H	J			Group 1	K
3	C	3			K	B	L	G				M
4	D	4			F	M	N	C				D
5	E	4			O	D	P	E				O
6	F	3									Group 2	I
7	G	2										F
8	H	1										C
9	I	1										P
10	J	1									Group 3	A
11	K	2										N
12	L	2										G
13	M	3										J
14	N	3									Group 4	L
15	O	4										E
16	P	4										B
17												H

<colgroup><col style="width: 25pxpx"><col><col><col><col><col><col><col><col><col><col><col><col></colgroup><thead>
</thead><tbody>
</tbody>

Sheet2​

Array Formulas Cell Formula L2 {=INDEX($A:$A,SMALL(IF(ISNA(MATCH($A$1:$A$16,$L$1:$L1,0)),ROW($A$1:$A$16)),RANDBETWEEN(1,ROWS(L2:L$17))))} <thead> </thead><tbody> </tbody> Entered with Ctrl+Shift+Enter. If entered correctly, Excel will surround with curly braces {}. Note: Do not try and enter the {} manually yourself

<tbody>
</tbody>

Put the formula in L2, confirm with Control+Shift+Enter, and copy down. The first four cells are Group 1, etc. Like the other formulas, this recalculates every time you push F9.

 

[Fraserj]

The first one works... although, whenever I type a new thing into any cell, it updates the groups and randomly draws them again "/

How do I get around this?

 

[wideboydixon]

Unfortunately RANDBETWEEN() is a volatile function which means the draw will change if you change *any* cell in the sheet. The only way to avoid this is to use a UDF but then you're in VBA territory ...

WBD

 

[Fraserj]

****, can't use VBA as it's going to be a file on my phone... can't be carrying my laptop around, and even on a tablet you don't get the full version of Excel

 

[Eric W]

WBD is right about the volatile part, and if you can't use VBA, that makes it tougher. About the only thing I could suggest is when you get a set of groups you want, then you copy them, and do a Paste Special > Values somewhere else on your sheet.

 

[Fraserj]

Yeah, think that's what i'm going to have to do ... cheers anyway