3 Teams That Can Dethrone Stanford in the Women’s NCAA Tournament

The defending NCAA Tournament champions, the Stanford Cardinal, are expected to earn a top seed once again in this year’s NCAA Tournament, but WynnBET Sportsbook has the Cardinal in third in it’s odds to take home the title. 

The beauty of March Madness is that any team can make a run, and on the women’s side, we’ve seen a different champion in five straight seasons. 

Let’s take a look at the odds for some of the top contenders heading into this year’s tournament: 

March Madness Odds to Win Women’s National Championship

• South Carolina: +175
• UConn: +500
• NC State: +600
• Stanford: +600
• Baylor: +1000
• Louisville: +1000
• Field: +2000
• Michigan: +2000
• Arizona: +2500
• Maryland: +2500
• Georgia: +5000
• Indiana: +5000
• Iowa: +5000
• Iowa State: +5000
• LSU: +5000
• North Carolina: +5000
• Tennessee: +5000
• Texas: +5000
•  BYU: +10000
• Georgia Tech: +10000
• Notre Dame: +10000

So, which of these teams can dethrone the Cardinal as the champion in women’s college basketball? Here are three teams that I have my eye on. 

UConn Huskies (+500)

This is an obvious pick, as the Huskies are a powerhouse in women’s college basketball, but I think this team may be the best team in the country even though they didn’t look like it all season. 

The main reason for that is the injury to Paige Bueckers, the team’s leading scorer and arguably the best player in the country, led to her only playing in 10 games so far this season. 

However, Bueckers injury opened the door for superstar freshman Azzi Fudd to get comfortable and carve out a major role in the team’s offense. Fudd is the second leading scorer and is shooting a blistering 44.1 percent from beyond the arc. 

UConn also has veterans like Christyn Williams, Evina Westbrook and Olivia Nelson-Ododa who have been a part of tournament runs under Geno Auriema. It’s been a while since the Huskies have won a title by their standards (2016), but the metrics back them up as a top team as well. 

UConn is fourth in HerHoopStats Rating this season, ranking seventh in offensive rating and fourth in defensive rating. Remember, this is mainly without Bueckers. 

If UConn gets Bueckers back at full strength in the tournament, it’s going to be a tough out for any team. 

NC State Wolfpack (+600)

NC State has been a top five team all season long, and even though it lost to South Carolina early in the season, the Wolfpack have dominated other ranked opponents this season, sweeping North Carolina and beating Louisville when it was No. 4 in the country. 

The Wolfpack have a well-rounded offense, with six players averaging 7.3 or more points per game, and HerHoopStats ranks the Wolfpack at No. 2 in offensive rating this season. The Wolfpack shoot 36.9 percent from 3 as a team, which could be lethal in the tournament as they rank 10th in the country in 3-point shooting. 

The Wolfpack are the worst defensive team between Stanford, South Carolina and UConn, but they are still sixth in the country in defensive rating. 

Many times, the women’s tournament will see the top seeds go chalk, so I like building a profile of a pair of teams that should receive a one or two seed in the tournament. 

Iowa Hawkeyes (+5000)

My longshot pick has to go to my favorite player in all of women’s basketball, Iowa guard Caitlin Clark. 

Clark can simply light it up, averaging 27.4 points, 8.1 rebounds and 7.9 assists per game while shooting 45.6 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from 3. The 3-point percentage is even more impressive when you see where she actually is launching some of these shots from. 

Clark’s prowess has led to Iowa posting the best offensive rating in the country this season, per HerHoopStats, and that’s a huge reason why I think the Hawkeyes could make a run in this tournament. 

Having one of the best players is key, but Iowa can score with anyone, which may help if the team is outclassed from a talent perspective against a top seed. 

You can always build the narrative for Clark to lead this team on an improbable run and be named Most Outstanding Player. If that happens, I’ll be here standing on this take.