WNBA standings tracker 2026: Updated playoff bracket, scenarios through Sept. 22 originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
What this year’s WNBA playoff bracket lacks in intrigue, it makes up for in sheer number of possibilities.
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The deck of postseason-bound teams has been the same for the best part of a month. Their order changes by the day, however; every spot in the eight-team bracket is up for grabs, with some positions proving especially contentious.
The Lynx and Valkyries have been the league’s heavyweights, although neither has locked up the No. 1 seed just yet. Further down the rankings, the Dream, Fever, Liberty, Mystics and Wings find themselves in close quarters, with just a handful of games slated to be the different between first-round home-court advantage and the No. 8 seed.
With that, here’s a look at how the playoff bracket shapes up ahead of the final few games of the regular-season calendar.
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WNBA standings 2026
Standings updated through games on Sept. 22.
|
seed |
Team |
Record |
Win % |
Games Back |
|
1 |
Lynx* |
32-11 |
.744 |
— |
|
2. |
Valkyries* |
31-12 |
.721 |
1.0 |
|
3. |
Aces* |
30-13 |
.698 |
2.0 |
|
4. |
Dream* |
30-14 |
.682 |
2.5 |
|
5. |
Fever* |
28-15 |
.651 |
4.0 |
|
6. |
Mystics* |
27-16 |
.628 |
5.0 |
|
7. |
Wings |
27-17 |
.614 |
5.5 |
|
8. |
Liberty |
26-18 |
.591 |
6.5 |
*clinched playoff berth
WNBA clinching scenarios
Lynx
Clinched No. 1 seed on Tuesday night with Valkyries loss.
Valkyries
Clinches No. 2 seed by winning final game of the season.
Aces
Clinches No. 2 seed by winning final game AND Valkyries losing final game.
Dream
Clinched No. 4 seed with win over Liberty on Wednesday.
Fever
Clinches No. 5 seed with win in final game OR Mystics loss in final game.
Mystics
Clinches No. 5 seed by winning final game AND Fever losing final game.
Clinches No. 6 seed by winning final game OR Liberty losing final game.
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Wings
Clinched No. 7 seed with Liberty loss on Wednesday.
Liberty
Clinched No. 8 seed after losing to Dream on Wednesday.
WNBA Playoff matchups
If the season ended today, here’s how the first round of the playoffs would look.
(1) Lynx vs. (8) Liberty
(2) Valkyries vs. (7) Wings
(3) Aces vs. (6) Mystics
(4) Dream vs. (5) Fever
