WNBA playoff picture: Lynx lead but every seed still in play with two games left

Eight teams are locked into the 2026 WNBA playoffs, but seeding from No. 1 through No. 8 remains unsettled with the regular season winding down.

The WNBA playoff field has been set for roughly a month, but the order of the eight-team bracket is still changing daily with only a couple of games remaining on the regular-season schedule. Through games of Sept. 21, Minnesota leads at 32-10, one game ahead of the expansion Valkyries at 31-11, with neither having secured the top seed.

Las Vegas sits third at 29-13, followed by Atlanta at 29-14 and Indiana at 27-15. The middle of the bracket is tightly packed, as Washington, New York and Dallas are separated by half a game, with the Mystics at 26-16 and the Liberty and Wings both at 26-17.

Minnesota can clinch the No. 1 seed by matching Golden State's win total over the final two games, while the Valkyries need two wins plus two Lynx losses to jump to the top. Golden State locks up the No. 2 seed with one more victory.

Further down, Atlanta secures the fourth seed with a win in its finale, while Indiana, Washington, New York and Dallas all face scenarios that could land them anywhere from home-court advantage in the first round to the eighth seed.

If the season ended today, the first round would feature Minnesota against New York, Golden State against Washington, Las Vegas against Dallas, and Atlanta against Indiana.