The 2026 WNBA regular season will resume Thursday following the 2026 FIBA Women's World Cup, which Team USA won thanks to a dominant second half in the final against France on Sunday. Once play resumes, it will truly be a sprint to the finish, with just one week of games before the season concludes on Sept. 24. All eight playoff spots have already been secured, so there is no drama there, but there are still plenty of matters to settle.
Ahead of Thursday, here's a look at what's at stake. On July 12, the Las Vegas Aces were crushed by the Indiana Fever. That defeat gave the Minnesota Lynx sole possession of first place, and Cheryl Reeve's bunch has held it ever since.
At one point, it seemed as though the Lynx (31-9) might lock up the No. 1 seed before the World Cup break. But they lost their last two games, including one to the second-place Golden State Valkyries (29-11), who are on a four-game winning streak that has cut the gap to two games. The Lynx have the season tiebreaker over the Valkyries, however, so their advantage is effectively three games with four to play for each team.
The Lynx's magic number -- a combination of wins or Valkyries losses -- to clinch the No. 1 seed is two. Minnesota remains the clear favorite to earn homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs, but Golden State has a significantly easier remaining schedule, which could make things interesting. If the Valkyries win out, which is a real possibility, the Lynx would have to go 2-2.
And if you pencil in the game against the lowly Sun as a win, Minnesota needs to win one of its other three games -- a home game with the Liberty and a back-to-back with the Fever -- to lock up the top seed. The Lynx should have no trouble doing that, but their games this season against New York and Indiana have been very competitive. If Minnesota loses that game against New York on Friday, the pressure would really be on.
While the eight playoff teams are set, their order is not. There are going to be fierce seeding battles down the stretch, particularly in the middle of the pack as teams try to secure homecourt advantage in the best-of-three first round. Before we break things down, here's a look at the standings heading into Thursday: As you can see, there are three distinct groups: The Aces, Dream and Fever could all technically move up to the No. 2 seed, but it feels safe to assume that the Lynx and Valkyries are going to finish first and second in some order.
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