This is the second part of a two-part series, as Willie Ramirez follows up the Top 5 women’s stories he wrote in 2025 by revealing the Top 5 women’s sports storylines he’s looking forward to in 2026.

Here are Willie’s Top 5 storylines for 2026:

5. The 2026 WNBA Draft will be an interesting one, especially considering the strife between the league and the players, as CBA negotiations continue. While well-respected experts don’t believe the players will allow a strike to happen, it remains a topic for conversation. For the second straight season, the Dallas Wings will get the No. 1 overall pick, after they took 2025 Rookie of the Year Paige Bueckers.

For Sporting Tribune coverage, the defending champion Las Vegas Aces don’t have a first-round pick and won’t take their first selection until 29th in the second round. The Aces also have the 44th pick, the second-to-last pick of the whole draft. The Los Angeles Sparks are also without a first-round pick, and won’t pick until 20th – the fifth draft pick in the second round. The Sparks also pick third in the third round, 35th overall.

4. And as a follow-up to the WNBA Draft, it’ll be interesting to see how the Sparks size up against the competition with a healthy roster to start the season. They didn’t have Cameron Brink or Rae Burrell for the start of the 2025 campaign. In 2026, they’ll bring back a stacked roster under second-year coach Lynne Roberts, who, with a year under her belt, should be able to have her team playing to full potential from the opening tip.

What would make things interesting, since many mock drafts have UCLA star Kiki Rice falling to the second round, is if the Sparks kept the well-rounded guard in Southern Cal to learn from veteran Kelsey Plum.

3. The last time the Aces won a WNBA championship, they went ahead and ran it back and defended their title successfully to make it two straight. Considering what Coach Becky Hammon was able to do in the second half of last season, after the Aces opened the season 14-14, there have to be high expectations with much of the roster expected back after the expansion draft.

Bottom line is, as long as A’ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young are in the mix, it’s a trio that must be respected. The additions of NaLyssa Smith and Dana Evans proved to be huge, giving the Aces added weaponry in areas that bolstered their talented trio. The biggest question will be which players are left unprotected for the expansion draft.

2. USC freshman Jazzy Davidson was looking forward to playing with JuJu Watkins. Instead, Davidson has stepped up to lead the Trojans while Watkins recovers from knee injury suffered in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. Odd as it may sound, it might have been one of the best things for Davidson, as she’s getting a chance to bring her full potential to life without playing in Watkins’ shadow.

That said, the lookahead to next winter, when Watkins returns to the court for the Lady Trojans will immediately make the team one of the favorites to win the Big Ten Conference and certainly one of the nation’s top teams. Watkins and Davidson have notably formed an incredible bond during the current season, which should make for solid chemistry when they start playing alongside one another.

1. UCLA’s women’s basketball team has maintained its status as one of the nation’s top teams this season, and as it continues to gel while getting healthier, the expectation of another run in the NCAA Tournament grows stronger. The Bruins made it to the Final Four last season, another step closer since Rice joined the team. With Rice, Gabriela Jaquez and Lauren Betts leading the charge, the Bruins have one of the most potent offenses in the nation as the calendar turns to 2026.

UCLA is averaging nearly 90 points per game after Saturday’s 80-46 win over USC, while its stingy defense ranks 41st in allowing just 56.3 points per game. The Bruins’ only loss this season was in a tournament in Las Vegas against powerhouse Texas, which went on to defeat South Carolina in the championship of that same event. Wins over Oklahoma, North Carolina, Duke and Tennessee prove the Bruins can return to the national semifinals.