For most of the WNBA’s history, the league’s champion has looked the part from start to finish — not just during the playoffs, but throughout the regular season. Dominance was expected from the moment the ball tipped in May. From 2009 to 2024 — the league’s 12-team era — only two champions weren’t the top seed in the regular season or within at most two games of the league’s best record: Indiana in 2012 and Chicago in 2021.Last season was a different situation, as the eventual champion Las Vegas Aces sputtered for the first two-thirds of the regular season before ending it on a 16-game winning streak. The Aces had one of the poorer net ratings (plus-3.9) of any WNBA champion but were able to find themselves when it mattered and hung another banner.Two things changed in 2025: The league added another team and four more regular-season games. The WNBA expanded twice more in 2026, even if the schedule didn’t get any longer, but more games are on the horizon in 2027. In a bigger league with more regular-season games, it stands to reason that dominance may be a little more difficult over a six-month stretch. Perhaps Las Vegas was just the tip of the iceberg in 2025.Recent champions Las Vegas and New York are once again flailing through the regular season, relying on their ability to flip the switch at an opportune moment. The teams that have taken the start of the regular season a little more seriously, such as Dallas and Golden State, don’t have any meaningful playoff history and are thus harder to trust come the postseason.Minnesota looms as the obvious championship favorite. A title-winning head coach and a roster that has been at the top of the standings for most of the season spell a title in 2026, especially with Napheesa Collier on her way back. (And it would in just about any other year in WNBA history.) In the second half of the season, let’s see if teams continue to put stock in winning every game or shift toward managing players’ loads before the postseason.RankTeamPrevious rank1Golden State12Minnesota23Dallas34Indiana 45Las Vegas56Atlanta87Washington 78New York69Chicago 1410Portland 1011Connecticut 1112Toronto 913Seattle1214Phoenix 1515Los Angeles 13Trending upGolden State ValkyriesThe Valkyries haven’t technically risen in the rankings — nowhere to go but up when you open the week in the top spot — but they have at least risen in my estimation by continuing their nine-game winning streak. Incredibly, their offensive rating is still 10th in the league during this stretch, but their defensive rating of 93.7 points allowed per 100 possessions is comfortably the best in the league. For context, the best defensive rating in the WNBA last season was 97.5, and offenses have improved league-wide in 2026.Of all the things Golden State does well defensively, what stands out most is its ability to protect the paint. The Valkyries have an excellent rim protector in Kiah Stokes, who leads the league in block percentage; she rejects 8.2 percent of opponents’ 2-point shots when she is on the court. But defense isn’t a one-woman effort, and Stokes plays only 22 minutes. Everyone on the Golden State roster plays her part.Against Washington, whenever Kiki Iriafen got the ball in the post, Stokes was solid enough to stay between Iriafen and the hoop. But Veronica Burton and Kayla Thornton both slid into the paint as well, not doubling to the point of leaving their shooters open, but creating congestion. That’s how the Valkyries lead the league in paint points allowed.Another thing Golden State excels at is keeping opponents out of transition. It concedes the fewest points (12.1 per game) off turnovers, and it’s a stylistic choice based on how the Valkyries run their offense. They are the most isolation-heavy team in the league, and reducing the number of passes limits the number of giveaways. Even if it lowers Golden State’s offensive upside, there are so many other teams that thrive in the open court, and the Valkyries take that away. Consider Indiana, which plays at the highest pace in the WNBA and is averaging 94.4 points per game, the most in league history; the Valkyries held the Fever to 77 points in their win in Indiana this week, and the Fever scored four fast-break points.Golden State rallies late, closes on 15-4 run for ninth straight winConnecticut SunIt’s been a very strange season in Connecticut, where it seems like too much energy is being spent resurrecting the value of veterans such as Brittney Griner and Kennedy Burke. At 35 and 29 years old, respectively, they aren’t on the same developmental timeline as the Sun’s core. Also, it doesn’t behoove Connecticut to win games when it currently boasts a slim one-game lead for best odds of the No. 1 pick in the 2027 draft lottery.