Michael VoepelSep 24, 2026, 07:30 AM ETCloseMichael Voepel is a senior writer who covers the WNBA, women’s college basketball and other college sports. Voepel began covering women’s basketball in 1984, and has been with ESPN since 1996.Multiple AuthorsOpen Extended ReactionsFour seeds are set for the 2026 WNBA playoffs, but the other four come down to Thursday, the last night of the regular season. Five games are on the schedule, and four have playoff implications.The Minnesota Lynx are the No. 1 seed, secured Tuesday thanks to the Golden State Valkyries’ loss at the Portland Fire.The other seeds were set Wednesday after the Atlanta Dream’s 83-65 win over the New York Liberty. That put the Dream into the No. 4 seed and the Liberty into No. 8, plus locked the Dallas Wings into No. 7.Minnesota and New York will meet in the first round.Here’s how the remaining seeds and playoff matchups will be decided.Nos. 2 and 3 seedsGolden State and the defending champion Las Vegas Aces will host first-round games but are still jockeying for position.On Thursday, the Valkyries (31-12) play at the Los Angeles Sparks, while the Aces (30-13) visit the Phoenix Mercury.
Golden State will get the No. 2 seed with a victory or a Las Vegas loss.But if Golden State loses and Las Vegas wins, both teams finish 31-13, and the Aces will be the No. 2 seed. They own the tiebreaker thanks to their 3-0 regular-season record against the Valkyries.Nos. 5 and 6 seedsThis will come down to the Indiana Fever and the Washington Mystics.Thursday, Indiana plays at Minnesota two days after the Fever’s 96-77 win over the Lynx in Indianapolis on Tuesday. Lynx point guard Olivia Miles didn’t play in that game because of a calf injury and has already been ruled out for Thursday.With a victory, the Fever will get the No. 5 seed, as they will finish 29-15. However, if the Fever lose and Washington beats the Chicago Sky, the Fever and the Mystics would finish 28-16.
In that case, Washington would be the No. 5 seed and Indiana No. 6 since the Mystics have the tiebreaker with their 2-1 regular-season series record against the Fever.If the Fever end up at No. 6, that will be their third season in a row with that seed. The Mystics missed the playoffs the past two seasons.Playoffs open SundayAll four best-of-three first-round playoff series begin Sunday, starting on the home court of the higher seed. If the series goes to a deciding Game 3, the higher seed hosts that game, too.”Little things matter in the playoffs, and that might be one of them,” Atlanta’s Naz Hillmon said Wednesday about the Dream being in the top four and having home-court advantage in the first round. “Just having that energy behind us from our fans.”
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