Another summer passed, another season of the WNBA winding down. But this wasn’t just any season: a historic new CBA, the chaos of 100+ players becoming free agents last winter, the first million dollar contracts, and two new expansion teams meant that 2026 was a pivotal year for the league. Still, the season isn’t quite over yet, and who will emerge as the champions from this monumental season has yet to be determined. For anyone curious about following along with this year’s WNBA postseason, here’s your cheat sheet to the 2026 championship season.
The Format
The top eight of the WNBA’s 15 teams get the chance to compete in the playoffs. There wasn’t much suspense by the end of this season about which teams were making the cut, as a wide gap opened up between the eighth and ninth place teams, with the eighth ranked team, the New York Liberty, having a nine game win difference over the ninth ranked Portland Fire. However, the competition for seeding among the top eight stayed tight up until the end, with all the teams falling between the range of 26-33 games won within the season.
With the eight teams locked in at the end of the regular season, the postseason takes place over three rounds, with half the teams eliminated each round until the final two teams face each other in the finals. The first round follows a best of three games format, while the semifinals are best of five games, and the finals stretch out to a best of seven games series.
The Playoff Teams
The eight playoff teams are mostly familiar faces from last year’s playoffs, with two notable exceptions. The Seattle Storm, the eight seed in last year’s playoffs, finished at the bottom of the league this season, while the Phoenix Mercury, who played in last year’s championship finals, had an incredibly rocky season and finished in 12th place. Taking their places among the eight playoff teams are the Dallas Wings, who finished at the bottom of the league in 2025, and my home team, the Washington Mystics. Here’s a brief overview of each of the eight teams competing this postseason:
Minnesota Lynx: While Lynx’s star Napheesa Collier was out for the beginning of the season recovering from double ankle surgery, the team’s performance was led by WNBA Rookie of the Year Olivia Miles. After Collier’s return, the team continued to dominate the league with no nonsense basketball, landing the team with the number one seed and earning Cheryl Reeves the league’s Coach of the Year award.
Golden State Valkyries: The Valkyries are only in their sophomore season after entering the WNBA in 2025 as an expansion team. After an impressive debut season, the Valks have only continued to thrive with lock down defense remaining the key to their success. The preseason signing of French star Gabby Williams has proved an incredible boost to this team looking to continue their meteoric rise to the top.
Las Vegas Aces: The Aces entered 2026 as the defending champions, having won three of the past four WNBA championships. Despite speculation about potential player moves in the offseason, the key figures of this Aces dynasty all stayed in Vegas. Chelsea Gray, Jackie Young, and A’ja Wilson all signed 7 figure contracts with the Aces in the preseason and have continued to prove their worth, with Wilson seeming set to be named the league’s MVP for a third year in a row.
Atlanta Dream: Atlanta’s steady success this season has been defined by their suffocating defense, spearheaded by the league’s Defensive Player of the Year Angel Reese, who was traded from Chicago to Atlanta in the offseason. Backing up the relentless defense are the shooting duo of Allisha Gray and Rhyne Howard, who are a dangerous offensive presence when they heat up.
Washington Mystics: The mystics have generated a lot of buzz this season for their exuberance on and off the court and for far exceeding the low expectations for the team in the preseason. With a self-dubbed nickname I can’t repeat in polite company, the Mystics are embracing their identity as the youngest team in the league, with most of their players drafted within the last two years. On top of the team’s relentless energy, Shakira Austin, the only player who played for the Mystics prior to 2024, has been having the best season of her career. The Mystics hope to keep the positive momentum going in their first playoff appearance since 2023.
Indiana Fever: Despite their status as the most talked about team in the WNBA, the Fever enter the postseason coming off of a slump. The handful of tough losses felt like a representative end to a season where the Fever lived up to their name by running both hot and cold through stretches of the summer. Despite the ups and downs the team has enormous talent in Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell, and Aliyah Boston that prevents them from ever being counted out of contention for the title.
Dallas Wings: Coming off of a dismal 2025 season, the Wings made some strategic signings in the offseason, in addition to gaining the 2026 number one draft pick Azzi Fudd. These preseason moves allowed the team to start the season off strong before they hit some growing pains. Nevertheless, 2025 Rookie of the Year, Paige Bueckers, avoided the dreaded sophomore slump and led her team back to a decent season record. The Wings chances rely on Buecker’s continuing to shine and relies on the hopes that more experienced players like Jessica Shephard and Arike Ogumbuwale can reach their season peaks when it matters most.
New York Liberty: The 2024 champions generated a lot of buzz in the off season after they didn’t re-sign beloved coach Sandy Brondello. However, the team managed to retain most of its biggest stars in the chaos of free agency, including Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu, and Jonquel Jones. Like many of the teams at the bottom half of the playoff seeds, the Liberty fluctuated this year between moments of looking full of potential and disappointing slumps. However, this is a team that excels at shining when the spotlight is bright, so even as the lowest seed the Liberty shouldn’t be underestimated.
What’s Happened So Far
Playoffs began on September 27th, and three out of the four opening matchups have already wrapped up. The bottom seeded Liberty swept the top seeded Lynx in historic upset. The Dream swept the Mystics through their signature brand of stifling defense (this is the most personally devastating result so far as a Mystics fan). And although the series went to three games, the Aces knocked the Fever out of playoff contention for the second year in a row. At the time of writing, the Valkyries and the Wings still have to play a third game to determine which team will progress to the semifinals and face the Aces.
With the semifinals and the finals guaranteed to bring even more excitement, I hope this guide helps lay the groundwork for you to enjoy the final weeks of this historic season for women’s basketball.