Portland takes the lead in the NWSL week 6 table. Washington and Gotham also moved into the top 4. Many mid-table team have matches in hand which will shift things in coming weeks

Haven't had much time to create new graphics this offseason due to birds taking up so much time but I'll definitely continue with the bump charts and playoff scenarios. In case you are into birds, here are some of my favorites: photos.alisongale.com/birds-of-2026

Bringing back the bump chart for the 2026 NWSL season and so far its been a lot of chaos. Some teams have a game in hand.

NWSL kicks off tonight! This offseason there was lots of player movement through trades and free agency as two new teams joined the league

Updated the map of which #NWSL team is closest to each point in the US. Boston fills in New England and Denver fills the large gap between Utah and Kansas City

Happy Superb Owl Sunday to all who celebrate!

Burn It All Down was my favorite podcast and now more than ever I miss their smart commentary and sharp critiques. Check out their Kickstarter so we can hopefully get more great content!

Taking a look at the distribution of NWSL games this season. An early break for the Men's World Cup but then an uninterrupted break until October

The top goalscoring teams from 2024 all scored fewer goals while the bottom all scored more to make this a competitive season

Here is how each teams' goal differential compared to last season. Kansas City pulled way ahead of all other teams

Comparing #NWSL points between 2024 and 2025. Seattle Reign and San Diego Wave saw the biggest improvements while Orlando and Gotham fell the furthest

As you'll hear on today's episode, we are working towards a relaunch next year. To that end, there are 3 things we'd love from our listeners: 1) Fill out our BIAD listener survey and let us know what you'd like from a BIAD re-launch: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Here is the updated #NWSL point spirals after the 2025 season. It really shows how quickly Kansas City took the lead without any other team coming close. Remaining teams were pretty tight on points

Here are what the #NWSL tables look like when split into the first half of the season and the second half. Kansas City is consistent, while Utah and Houston wish we could have skipped the first half

Corrected version of 5-game moving average of points for all #NWSL teams. Deleted the previous post after I realized it had cut off the last few points of each chart and the sorting was slightly off. Some teams really turned it around in the last 5 games while others struggled.

Louisville head coach Bev Yanez officially becomes the first person to make the NWSL playoffs as both a player and coach 👏 📸: @racingloufc.com

Louisville makes the #NWSL playoffs (and 7th seed) for the first time with a win. Two other playoff teams won this weekend: KC continued their dominance and Portland jumped to 3rd

Play around with different decision day results to see what the #NWSL table would look like: playoffs.alisongale.com

Heading into the final weekend, spots 3-8 are very much up in the air. Louisville and North Carolina are fighting for the final playoff spot. * Note that some of these finishes would require 10-0 score lines so possible does not mean probable

For Reign fans there are four decision day games that matter for seeding and first-round playoff opponent (Reign/Pride; Wave/KC; Thorns/Dash and Gotham/Courage), so 81 possible W/L/D outcomes among those four. If the Reign win they finish third; any other outcome could see them drop as low as 7th.

Gotham can clinch a top 4 spot with a win next week combined with a loss/draw for San Diego AND Portland. Since Reign and Pride play each other, as long as Gotham picks up the 3 points they’re guaranteed to leapfrog one of them on goal differential.

Portland clinches 9th straight NWSL playoff spot with 2-0 win at Angel City. Thorns have made playoffs every year but 2015. 1 spot left — either North Carolina or Louisville. We'll know on Decision Day Nov. 2!

Heading into the final weekend, spots 3-8 are very much up in the air. Louisville and North Carolina are fighting for the final playoff spot. * Note that some of these finishes would require 10-0 score lines so possible does not mean probable

Gotham fell from 4th to 7th with only a draw this weekend. Houston pulled out a big win but it wasn't enough to keep them in the playoff race

Quick update on the status of playoff clinching as we head into the last game. Portland can be the 7th team to clinch a playoff spot with a win. Houston and Angel City are both eliminated due to Louisville getting a draw

Only two weekends left to finalize the #NWSL table. See what the table looks like with different results in the remaining games: playoffs.alisongale.com

Five teams are looking to secure their playoff spot in the second-to-last week of #NWSL action. Bay FC has a chance to put four teams into the playoffs tomorrow night

We have two places finalized in the #NWSL playoff race but spots 3-8 are very much up in the air

Lots of movement above the playoff line in week 24 as Orlando clinches a playoff spot and Washington secures the second seed for playoffs

Washington Spirit has now clinched 2nd in the final table which means potentially hosting two playoff games. Today Angel City plays for the chance to stay in the playoff hunt and Orlando will be rooting for them

Washington Spirit are guaranteed to host an opening round playoff game after last night. All eyes are on WAS and LA for many of the remaining playoff scenarios

History maker ✨ With tonight's appearance, Lauren Barnes is the first-ever player in NWSL history to reach 250 regular season appearances. Congratulations, legend! 👏

You can use playoffs.alisongale.com to test out different scenarios over the final three weekends of #NWSL play

Five teams are looking to clinch a playoff spot in week 24, Washington Spirit has many ways to clinch playoff hosting and three teams are fighting to stay in the playoff race

Things are getting a bit clearer in the #NWSL playoff race but much is up in the air. Five teams can clinch playoff spots this weekend

Not as much movement in #NWSL week 23, with Portland and Louisville being the two teams to move back up in the standings

Bay FC is the second team eliminated from playoff contention. Remaining scenarios for the weekend are simplified

This weekend Washington Spirit have a chance to clinch a home playoff game while Utah Royals and Bay FC face potential elimination

Check out this site to see what results your team needs to make the #NWSL playoffs: playoffs.alisongale.com

With 4 matches left in the #NWSL season, the playoff picture is anything but clear

This weekend Washington Spirit have a chance to clinch a home playoff game while Utah Royals and Bay FC face potential elimination

No teams can clinch an #NWSL playoff spot next weekend, but Washington Spirit can clinch a home playoff game. Meanwhile Utah and Bay face potential elimination from playoff contention

Congrats to Washington Spirit for clinching a playoff spot this weekend! Everything else in the table is up in the air at this point

After Friday night the playoff scenarios are simplified. Chicago is eliminated from contention and Washington Spirit must win to clinch a playoff spot this weekend

Washington Spirit has another chance to clinch a playoff spot this weekend. Meanwhile Chicago Stars must take at least a point from Kansas City to stay in the playoff race

The NWSL playoff race is BACK! @lesleyryder.bsky.social on the countdown to Decision Day! Featuring: some handy graphs, and a playoff explorer tool from data viz wizard, @agale.bsky.social!

Check out this site to see what results your team needs to make the #NWSL playoffs: playoffs.alisongale.com

The most unpredictable league in the game. 🥶🏆 Five seasons, five different Shield winners. Read more: bit.ly/3IvIdQC

Washington Spirit has another chance to clinch a playoff spot this weekend. Meanwhile Chicago Stars must take at least a point from Kansas City to stay in the playoff race

After last weekend, Utah can still finish as high as 3rd (which results in a very chaotic table). Chicago can now only finish as high as 7th