How many teams make the WNBA Playoffs?

Women's basketball has never been more popular. We've seen it in the extraordinary ratings the Women's NCAA Tournament put up in March and April, and we're seeing it again now at the beginning of the WNBA season.

Caitlin Clark deserves a ton of credit for bringing new fans to the game, but the Indiana Fever rookie isn't solely responsible for the huge uptick in interest in the sport. The WNBA is absolutely overflowing the talent, as evidenced by the fact that the league is expanding in each of the next two seasons, and many first-round draft picks can't even make their respective rosters.

Many new WNBA fans don't yet know how the league's postseason works, and after major changes following the 2021 season, there's a decent chance that casual fans who already existed before this season may be in the dark, as well. That's why we've put together this handy WNBA playoff primer to answer any questions. Let's get right to it.

How many teams make the WNBA Playoffs?

This one is pretty straightforward, though different than how most other professional leagues operate. There are currently 12 teams in the WNBA, and eight of them will reach the postseason. However, despite there being an Eastern Conference and a Western Conference, all playoff teams will be seeded according to overall record. That means that depending on how the standings shake out, you could see the Seattle Storm face the New York Liberty in the first round, or the Los Angeles Sparks battle the Connecticut Sun. Previously, these matchups were only possible in the WNBA Finals.

What is the format of the WNBA Playoffs?

The first round of the playoffs will consist of a best-of-three format, with the first two games being played on the home court of the team with the best regular season record. If the lower-seeded team manages to steal a game on the road, they will then host the deciding Game 3.

Both the semifinals and finals are best-of-five, with each series following a 2-2-1 format. Last season, the Las Vegas Aces swept the Dallas Wings 3-0 in one semifinal, while the New York Liberty overcame a Game 1 loss to the Connecticut Sun to win the series 3-1. In the Finals, Vegas captured its second consecutive title 3-1, with WNBA Finals MVP A'ja Wilson leading the way with 21.3 points and 12.5 rebounds per game.

How are the WNBA Playoffs different than they used to be?

Even as recently as a few years ago, the WNBA Playoffs looked very different. Before 2016, the league used a common playoff format of having the top four teams from each conference reach the postseason. The first two rounds were best-of-three. The two conferences were separated until the WNBA Finals, where the Eastern Conference champion and Western Conference champion met in a best-of-five series for the title.

Beginning in 2016, the WNBA adopted radical changes to its playoff structure. Eight teams still made the playoffs, only now, the top teams received byes. The teams seeded 5-8 played a single elimination game in the first round, with the winners moving on to face the 3- and 4-seeds in another single-elimination game in the second round. The winners of those games advanced to face the 1- and 2-seeds in a best-of-five series, with the two winners meeting in the WNBA Finals in another best-of-five for the title.

That format certainly produced exciting results, with the 6-seeded Chicago Sky improbably winning their first title in franchise history in 2021, but it was needlessly convoluted. Beginning in 2022, the WNBA approved its current format, with the Aces winning each of the past two titles as the 1-seed, becoming the first team to go back-to-back since the Sparks in 2001 and 2002.

What will this year's WNBA Playoffs look like?

The season has just begun, so it's too early to get a great idea of what the playoffs will look like, but in the early going, last year's best teams are off to a hot start, while the teams that finished lower in the standings are again struggling. The Liberty have begun the season 3-0, which includes two dominant wins over Caitlin Clark and her Indiana Fever, who are 0-3. The Aces, Sun, and Minnesota Lynx are also undefeated at 2-0, while on the winless side, the Fever are joined by the Sparks (0-2) and Washington Mystics (0-3).

The WNBA regular season was expanded to 40 games last year, meaning there is still plenty of time for Clark and the Fever, No. 2 overall pick Cameron Brink and the Sparks, and the Mystics, who did slip into the playoffs last year with a 19-21 record, to get back in the race.

When do the WNBA Playoffs begin?

Even though it lasts for only 40 games, there's actually a lot to keep track of in the WNBA season. Play began on May 14 and will run until September 19, but there are some major events this summer to follow. First is the WNBA Commissioner's Cup, which is similar in concept to the NBA In-Season Tournament that debuted this past year (though the Commissioner's Cup actually predates its NBA counterpart). Debuting in 2021, the event consists of 10 round-robin games by conference that do count towards the standings, and one final pitting the two teams with the best records in round-robin play that does not count towards the standings.

The Commissioner's Cup will run through most of June, with the championship taking place on June 25. The All-Star Break occurs nearly a month later, from July 18-21, then the league will take more than a three-week break for the Olympics. This break will run from July 21 through August 14, before play reconvenes for the final five-plus weeks of the regular season.

Playoffs begin three days after the season ends, on September 22, and will run through most of October, with October 20 being the latest date of a potential WNBA Finals Game 5.

Stick with Fansided throughout the season as we cover all the exciting happenings in the WNBA, including the progress of Caitlin Clark and her fellow rookies, the Aces' quest for a three-peat, and many other storylines in-between.