If the Seattle Storm are the best team in the league, and they have certainly looked the part in jumping out to a 10-1 record, who comes next?

On Saturday, we saw Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and  Minnesota dominate with convincing victories, and at 8-2, 7-3, and 7-3 respectively, they each have a case to make as the next best team.

First, the Aces, who are on a torrid stretch for the best 10-game start in franchise history and are currently on a seven game winning streak. Las Vegas is first in the league in field goal percentage and rebounds. Meanwhile, opponents are shooting 28.7% from beyond the arc.

It’s not just defense, however, as A’ja Wilson is battling to stake her claim as the best offensive player in the game. She is averaging over 20 points per game with 8.5 rebounds, all while shooting 49% from field. The one-two punch with Angel McCoughtry has been exceptional so far. McCoughtry is sitting at 15.4 points per game and shooting 57.1% from the field.

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— WNBA (@WNBA) August 12, 2020

Through the first five games, Jackie Young had just 27 points and one game in double figures. Since then, she’s figured something out, as Young has 15, 15, 17, 16, and 16 in her last five outings. All of that has come for Young while playing off the bench. If those three can continue to play at their current level, Las Vegas can challenge the Storm.

The Aces have already beaten both Los Angeles and Minnesota in the short season. The win against the Lynx came on Thursday by 10. In the game against the Sparks, Wilson and McCoughtry combined for 50 points. Young added 15 more, while the rest of the team combined for 21.

Sparks fans, however, will be quick to remember that Nneka Ogwumike didn’t play in that game, and this past Saturday was just another reminder of what she can do. She went for 17 points on 8-of-9 from the field, playing in her usual, absurdly efficient manner. On the season, the 2016 MVP is averaging 12.6 points per game.

The other (two-time) former MVP on the Sparks roster is off to another phenomenal start. Candace Parker is nearly averaging a double-double, and her 3.7 assists per game are the second most on the team. While Chelsea Gray is facilitating and scoring, she has not been as consistent a shooter as in past seasons, when she typically shot well above 40%. Some of that could just be lingering rust, and if Gray can find her stroke during the second half of the season, the Sparks could be primed for a deep playoff run.

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— WNBA (@WNBA) August 15, 2020

A true title contender, Los Angeles boasts a strong starting five, depth, and an abundance of scorers. As a team, Los Angeles is second in 3-point percentage and Riquna Williams showed why on Saturday, draining 7-of-12 for 21 points. Despite playing off of the bench, she has been the team’s leading scorer, shooting 50.8% from beyond the arc, more than 10% above any season in her career. The Sparks can also turn to Seimone Augustus or Brittney Sykes off the bench for scoring, making this a well-rounded team.

Also active on defense, the Sparks are second in steals and have forced the most turnovers of any team. Because of their fast pace on offense, where they lead the league, Los Angeles is both scoring and letting up the most points of any team. The Aces are right behind the Sparks in pace, at second. And on the other end of the spectrum is Minnesota, the slowest-paced squad in the league. Rather than a defect, this speaks to the preferred style of the Lynx.

Like the Sparks, Minnesota also has a caveat for their loss to Las Vegas. Sylvia Fowles, who was putting up MVP-like numbers up to that point, missed nearly the entire game with injury. In their first game without Fowles, Minnesota had no trouble putting up points in a commanding win over the New York Liberty. The Lynx kept all five Liberty starters under double digit scoring while four of their own five starters reached that mark.

Fowles is now out indefinitely with a calf strain, after missing two games earlier in the season due to the same injury. The Lynx will need Napheesa Collier and rookie Crystal Dangerfield to step up in her absence, and so far, they have. Against the Liberty, Collier had her second straight 20+ point outing, scoring 26, one shy of her career best, while adding 13 rebounds and five assists. Dangerfield, meanwhile, scored 22 for the second-highest scoring output of her young professional career.

.@PHEEsespieces just shimmied her way to Western Conference Player of the Week.

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— Minnesota Lynx (@minnesotalynx) August 17, 2020

The Lynx, whose dynasty dominated the past decade, will need to rely on some new faces. Collier’s 14.9 points and nine rebounds per game are impressive, but she can’t be expected to drop 20 every night. And while the return of Odyssey Sims should give the team a boost, they’ll also need rookie Mikiah Herbert Harrigan to play beyond her years and for Lexie Brown to sustain what is now a career-best season.

Minnesota is leading in the categories they need to, including ranking first in offensive rebounds. Their opponents are shooting a second-worst 42.4% from the field. Still, with all the young talent, Minnesota needs to prove it can compete with and beat the best teams in the league. All three losses have come against Seattle, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas, but by an average of more than 17 points.

Behind Seattle, the Sparks, Aces, and Lynx are two through four in defensive rating. And at this point, that is exactly how I would rank these four teams.

As the world of women’s soccer approaches 2026, the last year may well be remembered for its dynasties.

Chelsea won a sixth straight WSL title, Euros champion England and Copa winner Brazil retained their continental crowns, and Gotham FC lifted a second NWSL trophy in three years.

The winds of change also began to blow in new directions, with Arsenal upsetting Barcelona to win the Champions League final, top NWSL talent departing the US for opportunities overseas, and Kansas City reminding everyone what happens when regular-season dominance meets playoff vulnerability.

Through it all the game continued to grow, with increasingly interesting results on both sides of the pond, as the ramp-up to the 2027 World Cup and a new slate of regional competitions coincide with an ever-shifting economic landscape

So instead of looking back, we’re keeping the spirit of progress alive by presenting five bold predictions for women’s soccer in 2026.

Sophia Wilson’s return: A top contender for 2026 NWSL MVP

News of USWNT Sophia Wilson’s impending return to the Portland Thorns gave NWSL fans a boost earlier this month, with the Triple Espresso forward signing a single-year extension with her original club team.

Expect Wilson to hit the ground running as she comes back from pregnancy. The 2022 NWSL MVP has been very consistent throughout her career, and she’ll be joined by other returning Thorns attackers to bolster her opportunities in front of goal.

Fellow extended Portland star Olivia Moultrie will be paramount to the 25-year-old’s MVP campaign, especially as Wilson looks to challenge two-time reigning MVP Temwa Chawinga.

Don’t bet against Wilson showing shades of Alex Morgan’s 2023 Golden Boot run. That's when the USWNT legend blew past expectations for what new mothers could achieve in their first season back on the pitch.

No repeat champs: Why the women's soccer guards are changing in 2026

Reigning WSL winner Chelsea’s repeat bid is already shaky, with Everton snapping their 34-game unbeaten streak earlier this month. And they’re preparing to enter the new year six points behind Manchester City in the league table.

Blues manager Sonia Bompastor has seemed to prefer a static roster rotation. Of course, she’s charged with managing players from two eras: ex-coach Emma Hayes’s success and the team’s modern iteration. If there was a time for a changing of the WSL guard, 2026 is the year.

Stateside, 2025 NWSL Shield winners Kansas City continue to navigate offseason changes. The Current will start 2026 under brand new leadership, after former head coach Vlatko Andonovski announced he’ll move to a Sporting Director role.

ESPN recently reported Kansas City’s plan to hire former MLS head coach Chris Armas in 2026. But without a formal announcement and the offseason clock ticking, the Current might run out of runway to set up a repeat bid.

2025 NWSL champion Gotham has both FIFA and Concacaf Champions Cup commitments this year, complicating their quest as they maneuver a jam-packed season. The club landed one major re-signing in Midge Purce, but forward Ella Stevens departed for expansion side Boston. Thus, the team is left relying on a title-winning core with an average age over 28.

Arsenal hasn’t looked too terribly far off their Champions League game yet. But the subsequent resurgence of Barcelona and OL Lyonnes could see the WSL on the outside looking in once the tournament reaches May's final.

Despite having a few worthy clubs — including strong newcomers Manchester United — the UK league’s chances of claiming another UWCL title appear overshadowed by mainland Europe’s renewed dominance.

Emma Hayes's USWNT: Expect major roster overhauls in 2026

USWNT coach Emma Hayes embraced change in 2025, giving 43 players their first national team cap this year — the most since 2001.

Though the approach came with some speed bumps. The US matching the single-year total loss record with three dropped matches.

Considering Hayes’s approach, it seems that the future of the USWNT has arrived much sooner than expected. And looking back, those losses actually made an emphatic argument for more lineup overhauls — not less.

The team’s November loss to Portugal showcased a veteran midfield trio in Rose Lavelle, Lindsey Heaps, and Sam Coffey. The lineup exposed the old guard’s weaknesses as the team looks to hold ground among the world’s elite.

Remember — Hayes made the call to leave Alex Morgan off the gold medal-winning 2024 Olympic roster. In doing so, she laid the groundwork for even bigger calls as the US gears up for a tough World Cup qualifying run in 2026.

The global talent war: NWSL salary cap faces European threats

The NWSL closes 2025 with flashy off-field headlines and waning on-field enthusiasm, as it attempts to grapple with a rash of overseas departures.

They’ve even gone so far as to institute a new “High Impact Player” rule allowing teams to exceed the salary cap for top talent. The move comes after rejecting the Washington Spirit’s blockbuster play for superstar striker Trinity Rodman.

Viewed as a half-measure to circumvent larger salary cap issues, the NWSL Players Association has come out against the newly approved mechanism.

The union is advocating for the league to raise the base salary cap across the board. This will help clubs keep up in an increasingly competitive global market without destroying parity.

Whether or not the two parties will reach a compromise remains to be seen. Meantime, it leaves NWSL fans to hope for a solution as wealthy European clubs continue to draw top free agents away from the US league.

Of course, money isn’t everything. Raising the salary cap won’t guarantee NWSL favorites remain Stateside, as another league’s pull features more than just a pay bump. Thoughugh should the NWSL figure things out in time, US clubs might bring in a few big names themselves.

Regardless, expect more players to test their abilities in new environments when the transfer window opens back up in January. And it's especially pressing considering the looming World Cup and its national team implications.

The 2026 Men’s World Cup will transform women’s soccer

International soccer’s largest event lands in the US next year, as the 2026 Men’s World Cup promises to reshape football fandom in this country and beyond.

The NWSL remains bullish on the tournament’s ability to convert soccer fans across gender lines. Though the competition itself is subsequently bound to have a serious and immediate impact on the women’s game.

The NWSL plans to pause for the duration of next summer’s World Cup. This is in part due to infrastructural strains, as the tournament takes over venues shared between men’s and women’s club teams. The USWNT’s World Cup qualifying campaign will also hit the breaks, rendering the team’s summer international windows largely meaningless.

And with Concacaf qualifiers kicking off immediately after the 2026 NWSL Championship, top players will have to balance commitments at the end of a long year.

No matter how the 2026 World Cup ends up influencing US soccer culture, it will inevitably present some challenges as the domestic women’s game pushes to be more than an afterthought alongside the sport’s biggest stage.

No. 3 South Carolina basketball suffered a blow this week, as top transfer Ta'Niya Latson exited the Gamecocks' 96-55 win over Providence with a lower leg injury on Sunday.

"She's smiling," South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said of Latson immediately following the game, offering an optimistic injury update. "She got treatment all through the second half."

The star senior guard, who turned 22 years old last Friday, joined South Carolina after leading Division I in scoring with Florida State last season.

This year, Latson's 16.9 points per game trails only sophomore forward Joyce Edwards's 21.4-point average on the Gamecocks' scoresheet.

While the full extent to Latson's injury and her potential time off the court is still unknown, any absence exacerbates the team's injury woes, as South Carolina lost standout forward Chloe Kitts to a season-ending injury before the 2025/26 campaign tipped off — with the Gamecocks battling additional availability limits throughout their roster all month.

That said, with the recent returns of forward Madina Okot and guard Agot Makeer from concussion protocol, the Gamecock bench is significantly less sparse, with both returnees impacting Sunday's South Carolina victory with a double-double.

Even more, Staley's squad will see additional roster relief when 18-year-old French center Alicia Tournebize joins the team midseason.

How to watch South Carolina basketball this week

The No. 3 Gamecocks will open the new year by tipping off their SEC slate on Thursday, when South Carolina hosts unranked Alabama at 2 PM ET.

The clash with the Crimson Tide will air live on SEC+.

The world's tennis stars are preparing to open 2026 play in Australia this weekend, with top WTA and ATP leaders on Team USA gearing up to defend their United Cup title starting this Friday.

The two-time champion US enters as the No. 1 seed in the fourth edition of the hard-court tournament, bolstered by the return of world No. 3 Coco Gauff to lead Team USA's six-player United Cup contingent.

With each tournament bout consisting of one WTA singles match, one ATP singles clash, and one mixed-doubles competition, Gauff notably claimed a straight-sets victory over Polish phenom No. 2 Iga Świątek to secure the 2025 title for the US.

"I'm super excited," the 21-year-old star said prior to this year's United Cup. "I had such a good time in my first year playing with the team, and I'm looking forward to going back."

With the 2026 Australian Open beginning in less than two weeks, the United Cup pits 18 national teams against each other as players from both the women's and men's tours tune up for next year's Slams.

Fellow WTA Top-10 stars Świątek and Italy's No. 8 Jasmine Paolini will join Gauff on the 2026 United Cup court, while fan favorite No. 16 Naomi Osaka will feature for tournament debutant Japan.

Also battling for national pride will be two winners of last season's WTA awards, with 2025 Newcomer of the Year No. 18 Vicky Mboko joining Team Canada and 2025 Comeback Player of the Year No. 11 Belinda Bencic competing for Switzerland.

How to watch the 2026 United Cup

The 2026 United Cup runs January 2nd through 11th, with live coverage airing on the Tennis Channel.

The No. 3 Minnesota Frost are looking to skate up the PWHL table, as the reigning back-to-back champs hope to make up ground before the third-year league breaks for the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Eight games into the 2025/26 season, the Boston Fleet top the PWHL standings with 19 points, trailed by the No. 2 Toronto Sceptres with 14, while the No. 4 Montréal Victoire sit one point behind the Frost with 11.

"Our league is good. Every game is going to be close," Minnesota head coach Ken Klee said last week. "It's just about getting better and keep accumulating points."

With the league's original six teams largely off to a hot start, there's only a few weeks left before players hang up their PWHL jerseys for February's Winter Games.

Teams outside the current playoff chase are also making a statement, as New York Sirens forward Casey O'Brien scored her first pro goals to power the sixth-place squad past the No. 5 Seattle Torrent 4-3 on Sunday — becoming the first rookie to record a hat trick in PWHL history in the process.

"We've been putting in a lot of work in practice and video, focusing on the little things," O'Brien said postgame. "Tonight felt like the payoff."

How to watch this week's PWHL action

The puck drops on the final 2025 PWHL matches on Tuesday, when the No. 3 Minnesota Frost visit the No. 2 Toronto Sceptres at 7 PM ET, airing live on Prime.

Closing out the year on Wednesday, the No. 6 New York Sirens will host the No. 7 Vancouver Goldeneyes at 1 PM ET, with live coverage airing on MSG Network.