WNBA playoff format changes – Solving a problem or ‘overcorrecting’?

The WNBA on Thursday announced it is changing its playoff format, most notably doing away with single-elimination games and byes.

Starting with the 2022 WNBA season, the eight teams with the highest winning percentage over a 36-game schedule advance to the postseason and are seeded by record. The first round — where the No. 1 seed faces the No. 8 seed, the No. 2 seed plays No. 7, and so on — consists of four best-of-3 series. The semifinals and WNBA Finals will continue to be best-of-5 series.

The playoff changes are the WNBA’s first since 2016, when the top two seeds were awarded double byes into the semifinals, the third and fourth seeds were given a bye into the second round, and single-elimination games decided the first and second rounds.

During the 2021 WNBA postseason, outcry to dump single-elimination games reverberated throughout the league, and league coaches believed changes were coming to the playoff format.

Now that they’re here, we break down the biggest wins and dissect areas that might face the biggest scrutiny — and elicit future change.

For the first time since 2016, the WNBA is changing its playoff format. What did the league get right?

Voepel: It seemed like everyone I talked to this past season — players, coaches and general managers — was ready to do away with single-elimination games. They could be exciting, no doubt, just like NCAA tournament games. But it meant some pretty good players were out of the playoffs the night the postseason began, and there was no chance for teams to make adjustments after a loss. It just didn’t seem like the best thing for a…