WNBA predictions: Expert picks for Finals winner, regular-season standings with Liberty expected to repeat
The race for the WNBA title begins Friday
After a long but fascinating winter, spring has arrived, and with it a new WNBA season. The 2025 campaign, which features a record 44 regular season games per team, will begin Friday. From there, it will be a five-month sprint to crown a new champion.
The New York Liberty, who won their first title in franchise history last season in thrilling fashion, are the favorites again this season, and will hope to become the fourth franchise to go back-to-back. They'll face a stiff test from a number of contenders, however, including the Minnesota Lynx, who were runners-up last season, the Las Vegas Aces, who won it all in 2022 and 2023 and the new-look Indiana Fever, who hope to crash the party after an impressive offseason.
As a reminder, the WNBA's playoff format disregards conferences. The top-eight teams in the league make the playoffs, where they are seeded into a traditional eight-team bracket. That remains true this season even with the introduction of the expansion Golden State Valkyries.
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Jack Maloney
Ahead of the season, CBS Sports' panel of WNBA experts got together to try and predict how the standings and the playoffs would shake out. Here's a look at which eight teams they think will make the playoffs, and who will eventually lift the trophy in October.
WNBA standings predictions
Note: Playoff teams in bold
| Jack Maloney | Erica Ayala | Isabel Gonzalez | |
|---|---|---|---|
No. 1 | Liberty | Lynx | Liberty |
No. 2 | Lynx | Liberty | Lynx |
No. 3 | Aces | Aces | Aces |
No. 4 | Fever | Storm | |
No. 5 | Storm | Fever | Fever |
No. 6 | Mercury | Mercury | |
No. 7 | Dream | ||
No. 8 | Sky | Sky | Dream |
No. 9 | Valkyries | Sparks | |
No. 10 | Wings | ||
No. 11 | Sun | Sparks | Sun |
No. 12 | Wings | Mystics | |
No. 13 | Valkyries | Mystics | Valkyries |
Our experts were only aligned on two different teams: the Aces as the No. 3 seed and the Mercury at No. 6. But while the exact seeds differed for every other team, it's clear that, at least in the mind of our panel, there are some distinct tiers.
All three had the reigning champion Liberty, the Lynx and the Aces in some order at Nos. 1-3. Likewise, everyone had the Fever, the Storm and the Mercury from Nos. 4-6. And, for the final two playoff spots, there was agreement on the Dream and Sky at either No. 7 or No. 8.
That, of course, means that all three experts had the same five teams in the lottery in some order: the Connecticut Sun, Dallas Wings, Golden State Valkyries, Los Angeles Sparks and Washington Mystics.
WNBA Finals
| Jack Maloney | Erica Ayala | Isabel Gonzalez |
|---|---|---|
Liberty over Lynx | Liberty over Aces | Liberty over Lynx |
The reigning champion Liberty are the betting favorites to win the title again this season (+220, per Caesars), and all of our experts have picked them to repeat. The only disagreement is about whether they'll beat the Lynx or the Aces. If the Liberty lift the trophy again, they'll join the now-defunct Comets, Sparks and Aces as the only teams in WNBA history to go back-to-back.
