INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Fever won’t know the opponent for their first playoff berth in eight years until the final second of the WNBA regular season.

Indiana has been locked into the No. 6 seed since Sunday. But the No. 3 seed, their-first round opponent, remains in flux.

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Going into Tuesday, there were three potential options in play: Minnesota, Connecticut and Las Vegas. Minnesota clinched the No. 2 seed with a win over Connecticut on Tuesday. But with Connecticut’s loss and Las Vegas’ win on Tuesday night, Indiana won’t officially know its first round playoff opponent until Thursday.

But the Fever will prepare the same either way.

“I don’t have a preference, I think that would be kind of crazy,” rookie star Caitlin Clark said after being asked if she prefers playing a specific team in the playoffs. “I think wherever we go, we go, you’d prep the same exact ways you would prep for anybody else, the same way we’ve prepped all season long. Obviously, there’s a little more on the line, but it’s basically going to be new for every single person in our franchise, minus a few players.”

Eight of the 12 players on the Fever roster have never been in the WNBA postseason before, including all five starters. The players with the most playoff experience, Damiris Dantas and Temi Fagbenle, both won championship rings with Minnesota in 2015 and 2017, respectively.

The first round of the WNBA playoffs is a best-of-three format with the first two games at the home of the higher seed. With Indiana coming in as the No. 6 seed, it will travel to whoever their opponent is.

The Fever’s opponent could also, conceivably, win each of the first two games and take the series without even playing in Indianapolis.

But Indiana hopes it can bring a playoff game back to Gainbridge Fieldhouse, where it has boasted the best attendance in the WNBA all season. The Fever average over 17,000 fans a game, and became the first team in WNBA history to have a total attendance of over 300,000 in a single season.

“No matter who it is, we believe we can go on the road and win a game,” Clark said on Tuesday. “Who knows, maybe two. But at least one to try and get it back here and have our fans behind us to try and win the third game. I think we’re excited, we’re continuing to work hard.”

When it comes to the potential matchups, the Fever have losing records against both the Sun and Aces this season.

Indiana’s chances of getting to the second round, though, may be better in Connecticut. The Fever took a game over the Sun in Indianapolis following the Olympic break on Aug. 28. They played close in the other game the Fever hosted in Indy, with Connecticut scraping by, 88-84.

The Aces swept the Fever this season in four games (two home, two away). Three of those games were double-digit losses for the Fever, and one was a four-point loss.

Indiana will likely play Connecticut, as the Sun are in control of the No. 3 seed. All the Sun need to do to officially clinch the seed is to beat Chicago on Thursday night. The Aces will need both a Sun loss and a win over Dallas to overtake Connecticut for the No. 3 seed.

The Fever could have a stronger showing against the Sun in potential series, but it’s going to be a grind either way.

“Either way, we’ll play some of the best and best,” Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell said. “I think that either way it goes, we're gonna have to fight our asses off. I just think that's the reality.”

Follow IndyStar Fever Insider Chloe Peterson on X at @chloepeterson67.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Caitlin Clark, Indiana Fever in WNBA playoffs, just don't know vs who