WNBA Season Resumes September 16 with Playoff Seeding Still Undecided

The 2026 WNBA regular season resumes on September 16 following a three-week pause for the FIBA Women's World Cup. Eight playoff spots are locked, but seeding in the middle tier remains unsettled with one week of games remaining before the season ends on September 24, according to CBS Sports. The Minnesota Lynx hold first place with a 31-9 record, three games ahead of the Golden State Valkyries (29-11), who are on a four-game winning streak. The Lynx lost their final two games before the break. Lynx's magic number to clinch the No. 1 seed is two. The Valkyries' strong finish puts them in position to potentially catch Minnesota, though the Lynx own the season tiebreaker, per CBS Sports. The race for the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds features a three-team battle among the Las Vegas Aces, Atlanta Dream, and Indiana Fever, according to CBS Sports. One of those teams will miss home-court advantage in the first round. The Aces control their destiny for the No. 3 seed, while the Dream are in the driver's seat for the No. 4 seed because they hold the tiebreaker over the Fever. The Fever hold the tiebreaker over the Aces, and the Aces hold it over the Dream. The Fever face a much tougher remaining schedule than the other two contenders. The New York Liberty sit in sixth place but remain mathematically alive. CBS Sports reports they hold the tiebreaker over the Fever and will close their season with two games against the Dream, which could give them the season tiebreaker if they win both. The Liberty feature three capable scorers in Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu, and Jonquel Jones, though they have been extremely inconsistent this season. The Washington Mystics and Dallas Wings could technically climb as high as third, per CBS Sports. The Wings have the second-easiest remaining schedule and only lottery opponents left. The Mystics have the fourth-easiest schedule, with only their matchup against the Fever coming against a playoff team. Alyssa Thomas, the assists leader, holds a 320-302 advantage over Caitlin Clark in total assists but has played two more games and 147 more minutes. On a per-game basis, Thomas averages 8.42 assists per game compared to Clark's 8.38. Thomas needs 38 more assists to break her own single-season record of 357, which would require 9.5 per game over her final four games. The assists leader is determined on a per-game basis, per CBS Sports. The Bottom Line: Minnesota needs just two wins to lock the No. 1 seed, while the three-team traffic jam at No. 3 and No. 4 will determine home-court advantage for the top tier of first-round matchups. Alyssa Thomas's pursuit of her second consecutive assists title will run down to the final games of the regular season.