No. 1 seed Breanna Stewart’s redemption shot? Unrivaled 1-on-1 tournament bracket revealed – The Athletic
Kelsey Mitchell, Paige Bueckers, Allisha Gray and Breanna Stewart will be the top seeds when the Unrivaled 1-on-1 tournament returns for the second straight year next week.
The four top seeds were announced Saturday as part of an overall bracket reveal for the 32-player tournament, which begins next Wednesday at Sephora Arena in Miami.
In a change from 2025, the participants in this year’s tournament were grouped into four quadrants based on position, with a bracket for bigs, wings and two groups of guards loosely separated by size. Mitchell, Bueckers, Gray and Stewart received the No. 1 seeds following a vote by fans, coaches, players and the media.
Napheesa Collier won the crown in the inaugural event in 2025, but the Unrivaled co-founder and reigning MVP is sitting out the 2026 season due to injuries sustained during her 2025 WNBA campaign. That means there will be a second champion in as many seasons when the tournament concludes next Saturday, Feb. 14.
The 2026 Unrivaled 1-on-1 tournament bracket. Courtesy of Unrivaled.
Each game will be played to 11 points or end after 10 minutes, whichever comes first, and there will be a seven-second shot clock. The first round will be held Wednesday, followed by the second round and quarterfinals on Friday, and the semifinals and final next Saturday. The final is a best-of-three, with each game played to seven points.
The winner of the tournament pockets $200,000. The runner-up will take home $50,000, and the other two semifinalists will receive $25,000.
Stewart is seeking redemption after being knocked out in the first round of the 2025 competition by Aaliyah Edwards, failing to score a single point against her then-Mist teammate. Edwards went on to the final, pushing Collier to the limit. Gray advanced to the quarterfinals in 2025, and also lost to Edwards, while Bueckers and Mitchell are new to the event.
In total, 16 players return from last year’s competition, including five of the eight quarterfinalists: Gray, Edwards, Rae Burrell, Arike Ogunbowale and Courtney Williams. Kelsey Plum, Marina Mabrey and Alyssa Thomas join Bueckers and Mitchell as some of the most prominent newcomers.
Some matchups of note in the first round include Chelsea Gray vs. Natasha Cloud, Kahleah Copper vs. Rickea Jackson, Mabrey vs. Sonia Citron and Aliyah Boston vs. Thomas.
The 1-on-1 tournament was a highlight of Unrivaled’s debut season last year, with an average of 377,000 viewers tuning in for the semis and final. However, those games had NBA All-Star cross-promotion on TNT. This year’s NBA All-Star coverage (also Feb. 13 and 14) will air on NBC and ESPN, while Unrivaled remains on TNT and truTV.
