Only 6 WNBA Teams Can 'Actually' Win It All This Year

How many WNBA teams can actually win it all?

by Andrew Holleran

Aug 27, 2026

Angel Reese of the Atlanta Dream.

Colin Hubbard-Imagn Images&period;

The WNBA season only has about another month before the postseason.

The league’s regular season will end on September 24. But there’s far less than a full month of regular season play to go. The league will be taking a multi-week break in September for the FIFA World Cup. Games will then resume afterwards.

But right now, how many WNBA teams can actually win it all?

According to one WNBA expert, there are only six teams that can actually win a championship this year. It’s a small, but convincing list.

Aug 20, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Atlanta Dream guard Jordin Canada (3), Atlanta Dream forward Angel Reese (5) and Atlanta Dream guard Rhyne Howard (10) leave the court during a time out in the first half against the Los Angeles Sparks at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images.

WNBA expert Ricky O’Donnell believes that there are only six franchises that have a real chance of winning the championship right now.

Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever are on that list. So, too, are Angel Reese and the Atlanta Dream.

Six WNBA teams that can win it all in 2026

The six WNBA teams that can actually win it all are:

Atlanta Dream
New York Liberty
Indiana Fever
Golden State Valkyries
Las Vegas Aces
Minnesota Lynx

The Fever, of course, will have a lot of eyeballs on them this postseason.

However, Indiana’s defense could be a “problem.”

“The defense feels like a real problem, though. Indiana is the second-worst team in the league at forcing turnovers. Teams have been making shots over them all year, in part because Clark and Mitchell don’t provide much defensive resistance on the perimeter. Their defensive rebounding has been awesome all year, and that would seriously be tested in a potential first-round matchup against the Dream which would happen if the season ended today. It feels like the Fever are missing a roaming, defensive-minded four who can cause some havoc in a free safety role defensively, but they don’t have a player like that on the roster. Their only path through the bracket is out-scoring everyone, but there’s a real chance that could happen. I think the Fever have a shot at winning it all, and I nearly put them third in this ranking. The defense just holds them back a little,” O’Donnell wrote.

How many WNBA teams do you think can actually win it all this year?