And just like that, after five chaotic months of regular-season action, it’s time for the NWSL playoffs.

The 2022 postseason kicks off Sunday, starting with the Houston Dash hosting the Kansas City Current at 5 p.m. ET at PNC Stadium in front of the largest crowd in Dash history – more than 14,000 fans. The Chicago Red Stars and San Diego Wave follow at 10 p.m. ET at San Diego’s Snapdragon Stadium.

The winner of the first game plays this season’s Shield winners, OL Reign, in the semifinal round on Oct. 23, while the winner of the second plays the No. 2 Portland Thorns on the same day.

With five of the six playoff teams finishing the regular season within four points of each other, anything can happen on the road to the championship. While we wait in the calm before the storm, here’s a quick look at each quarterfinal matchup.

No. 4 Houston Dash vs. No. 5 Kansas City Current

Dash (10-6-6, GD: +8)

• This is Houston’s first playoff appearance in franchise history.
• The Dash rank second in the league, behind just the Reign, in possessions won in the final third.
• Houston scored two goals or more in nine of their 10 wins during regular season.

Current (10-6-6, GD: 0)

• This is Kansas City’s first playoff appearance, and the first by a Kansas City club since FC Kansas City made the postseason in 2015.
• The Current went on a 13-game undefeated streak this season after not recording a win in their first five matches.
• The Current rank first in the NWSL in penalties awarded (seven).

Evenly matched with identical records in the regular season, the Dash and the Current are about to play an unpredictable game.

Each team had a win in their two previous meetings this season, with Houston taking a 2-0 result the first time around and Kansas City getting revenge with a 2-1 victory. The Current won both games the teams played against each other in the 2022 Challenge Cup.

The Current have built a strong attack led by Lo’eau Labonta, Cece Kizer and Hailie Mace, and they are backed by one of the most reliable goalkeepers in the league in AD Franch.

But will they stick to their 3-5-2 formation against Houston’s potent offense? The Dash are arguably more lethal than the Current, with Ebony Salmon, María Sánchez and Nichelle Prince leading the way.

Kansas City’s three-defender lineup could run into trouble against a scoring machine like Houston, who rank second among the playoff teams in goals (35). And the Current will be without defensive midfielder Desiree Scott, who received two yellow cards in Kansas City’s last game against Racing Louisville and therefore has to sit out the first-round match.

Prediction: Kansas City. The odds may not feel like they’re in the Current’s favor. But they didn’t feel like that at the beginning of the season either, when Kansas City went without a win in its first five games — then proceeded to record a 13-game unbeaten streak.

No. 3 San Diego Wave FC vs. No. 6 Chicago Red Stars

Wave (10-6-6, GD: +11)

• San Diego is the first NWSL expansion team to reach the playoffs in its first season.
• The Wave rank first in the league in clean sheets with nine.
• The Wave get to host the match at their home field, Snapdragon Stadium, where they broke the NWSL single-game attendance record in September with a sold-out crowd of 32,000 fans.

Red Stars (9-7-6, GD: +6)

• This marks Chicago’s seventh straight year in the playoffs.
• The Red Stars rank third in the league in possession with an average of 52 percent.
• Their longest unbeaten streak this season was nine games.

San Diego has more reason for confidence going into this match. The Wave came out on top in both of their games against the Red Stars during regular season, winning 2-1 and 1-0. In addition to a strong starting lineup, the Wave have game changers off the bench who can and have made a direct impact on the scoresheet.

Still, the Red Stars have developed a chemistry that could push through San Diego’s steady defense, especially with their deadly weapon Mallory Pugh. Her abilities, from goal scoring to dribbling to tackling, enable her to dictate games better than any player in the NWSL.

Prediction: San Diego. The Wave won both their previous games against the Red Stars and will win a third at home in front of an electric Snapdragon Stadium audience.

With half of the Elite Eight now set, a few Big Ten underdogs still have a shot at disrupting the No. 1 seed stronghold at the 2025 NCAA volleyball tournament this weekend.

The No. 3-seed Purdue Boilermakers are through to the quarterfinals after defeating No. 2-seed SMU 3-1 on Thursday, while the No. 4-seed Indiana Hoosiers, No. 3 seed-Wisconsin Badgers, and the still-undefeated overall No. 1 seed Nebraska Cornhuskers all face stiff Sweet Sixteen competition on Friday afternoon.

Coming off a strong regular season, the Big Ten could still field half of the quarterfinal round — though that would require the first No. 1-seed upset of the 2025 national tournament in the form of an Indiana victory over top-seeded Texas.

Bolstered by their defensive leader, senior middle blocker Madi Sell, the Hoosiers booked just their second-ever Sweet Sixteen trip with last week's win over No. 5 Colorado, with Indiana now hoping their lucky run continues against the 2022 and 2023 champion Longhorns.

Meanwhile, the No. 1 Huskers will look to keep rolling against No. 4-seed Kansas while the No. 3 Badgers aim to snag another Big Ten spot in the Elite Eight by ousting No. 2-seed Stanford on Friday.

How to watch the 2025 NCAA volleyball tournament this weekend

The NCAA volleyball tournament's Sweet Sixteen action will wrap with four games on Friday, starting with No. 1 Texas vs. No. 4 Indiana at 12 PM ET.

The Elite Eight will then meet at the net on Saturday and Sunday to determine the last-standing teams heading to next week's Final Four in Kansas City.

All of this weekend's NCAA tournament games will air live across ESPN platforms.

Team USA is on a roll, officially taking the four-game 2025 Rivalry Series against Canada before the slate of friendlies is even over, with the US collecting three consecutive wins so far — and one shot left at making it a clean sweep.

The US downed their northern neighbors by a commanding 10-4 scoreline in Edmonton on Wednesday, marking Team USA's first-ever 10-goal victory against the reigning Olympic champs — all while upping the 2025 series' goal tally to 20-6.

While each team fine-tunes rosters ahead of the 2026 Olympics, one test remains for both international hockey titans before the Winter Games take the ice in February.

"The work doesn't stop. Our Olympic team is not named. There's still one more game to go," said USA captain Kendall Coyne Schofield, acknowledging that her squad is not taking their foot off the gas despite the recent lopsided results.

"We have one more game against them before the Olympics," echoed Canada captain Marie-Philip Poulin. "We're all aware of that."

How to watch Team USA vs. Canada in the 2025 Rivalry Series

The puck drops on the final match of the sixth annual hockey Rivalry Series between the USA and Canada in Edmonton, Alberta, on Saturday.

Live coverage of the clash will begin at 9 PM ET on the NHL Network.

The latest FIFA women's soccer rankings dropped on Thursday, with Spain widening their lead at No. 1 after winning a second consecutive UEFA Nations League title earlier this month.

The USWNT held steady at No. 2, ceding 7.48 points after losing an October friendly to No. 22 Portugal before going on to secure four straight wins over Portugal, No. 35 New Zealand, and No. 13 Italy to close out 2025.

Elsewhere in the FIFA Top 10, No. 3 Germany and No. 6 Brazil both saw boosts after successful fall runs, while Canada skidded to No. 10 amid a recent five-match winless streak, with Les Rouges's last victory coming against No. 43 Costa Rica last June.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

The biggest changes, however, occurred outside the top ranks, as No. 96 Nicaragua, No. 118 Burkina Faso, and No. 137 American Samoa all rose by 16 spots.

Notably, upcoming USWNT opponent Paraguay saw the largest drop in this month's Top 50, sliding five spots to No. 46.

Ultimately, as the USWNT battled to keep pace in a year of roster experimentation — and without a major competition on the team's 2025 docket — the many international competitions in Europe benefitted victors and challenged losers in this week's FIFA rankings update.

The No. 16 USC Trojans are gearing up for another top-ranked test, hosting the reigning national champion No. 1 UConn Huskies in the weekend's flashiest NCAA women's basketball matchup on Saturday.

Coming off their second ranked win of the season, USC topped No. 20 Washington 59-50 last Sunday, with 22 points and 12 rebounds from freshman Jazzy Davidson helping pull the Trojans to a 7-2 record.

"I saw a resolve in our team," said head coach Lindsay Gottlieb afterwards. "I knew we could get the next stop, I knew we could get the next play."

USC will face a particularly familiar foe against the Huskies — this time without sidelined star junior JuJu Watkins — after UConn knocked the Trojans out of the NCAA tournament two years in a row.

Notably, sophomore guard Kayleigh Heckel departed USC over the summer for the Huskies, with the former Trojan averaging 7.7 points per game entering Saturday's clash with her old team.

"I just try to take one game at a time, but I'm excited to go back," Heckel said ahead of her first trip back to LA since transferring. "I had a great freshman year there, and I learned a lot, and it was a great experience, a lot of fond memories. So I'm looking forward to it."

How to watch No. 1 UConn vs. No. 16 USC on Saturday

The Trojans will host the Huskies with tip-off set for 5:30 PM ET on Saturday.

Live coverage of the clash will air on FOX.