In the 2023 USL W League season, 16 clubs will advance to the playoffs from four conferences that include ten divisions from across the country.

 

Seeding: 

Each division will have seeding established for the first round of playoffs. The seeding and match-ups will be first based off geography-based pairings, followed by points awarded during the regular season. If the number of games is not congruent across the divisions, then points per game will be applied to the seeding process. 

 

Central Conference
Great Lakes Division	6 Teams	1.5 Bids
Heartland Division	7 teams	1.5 Bids
Valley Division	5 teams	1.0 Bids

 

Eastern Conference
Metropolitan Division	8 Teams	2.5 Bids
Mid Atlantic Division	6 teams	1.5 Bids

 

Southern Conference
South Atlantic Division	7 Teams	1.3 Bids
South Central Division	7 teams	1.3 Bids
Southeast Division	6 teams	1.3 Bids

 

Western Conference
Nor Cal Division	8 Teams	2.5 Bids
Northwest Division	5 teams	1.5 Bids

 

With the goal of creating as much equity as possible, we evaluated each conference and each club’s
chance of advancement to playoffs. Using the formula below, we designed a playoff structure that would regionalize travel for all early rounds and give each divisions the most equitable representation possible in the playoffs based on the number of teams competing with that division.