Women's March Madness Final Four Futures: Who's the Best Bet to Win the National Championship?
By Ben Heisler
At the beginning of the NCAA women's tournament, the South Carolina Gamecocks were listed at +180 at WynnBET Sportsbook to win the national championship.
That's right. UNDER 2/1 odds to win six games in a row. That's how dominant of a team they've been all season.
Fortunately, in case you missed the boat on your Women's Final Four futures wagers, the Gamecocks actually haven't lost all that much value. In fact, their consensus odds now have them at even money, or +100 odds to win it all.
Here's where their odds stand relative to the rest of the Final Four contenders:
Women's Final Four Odds (Futures)
- South Carolina +100
- UConn +300
- Stanford +300
- Louisville +800
Women's Final Four Dates, Times, Schedule and Odds
Tip-off from the Target Center Minneapolis begins Friday night at 7 p.m. EST when No. 1 South Carolina matches up against fellow No. 1 seeded Louisville. The Gamecocks, fresh off their 30-point drubbing of No. 10 Creighton, are a 8.5-point consensus favorite (up from 7.5) against the Cardinals in the early tip with a total of 119.5 (down from 121.5).
For those expecting mighty Goliath to fall and want to take the Cardinals on the moneyline, Louisville is currently at +315 (bet $100 to win $315).
In the late game, two other titan programs match up as No. 2 UConn faces No. 1 Stanford at 9:30 p.m. EST. The Cardinal opened as a slight 1.5-point favorite vs. the Huskies following their thrilling double-overtime win against N.C. State in Bridgeport with a total of 128.5.
UConn, despite its small underdog status in this game is only a -105 moneyline underdog (bet $105 to win $100).
The two winners play for the national championship Sunday, April 3 at 8 p.m. EST
Women's Final Four Futures Best Bet
From the very beginning, it's been evident that South Carolina is in its own tier of elite this season.
Per Her Hoop Stats, they're the top rated team in the country, tops in defensive rating, Simple RPI, and Margin per 100 Possessions. The Gamecocks also played the toughest schedule in the country, while only losing two games all season long; one coming in overtime to Missouri and the other in the SEC Championship game to Kentucky which meant nothing as far as its pending seed for the NCAA Tournament.
However, I'm not ready to count out the Cardinal.
They were my pick at the start of the tournament to cut down the nets because of their consistency on both sides of the ball. They're top 3 in Her Hoop Stats rating, fifth in offensive rating, and second in defensive rating and Simple RPI behind only South Carolina.
They also took the Gamecocks down to the wire back in December, falling 65-61 in Columbia.
Getting past UConn is a daunting task, but as I wrote in my game preview for the Final Four, they're up for the challenge and are due for some positive regression with their shooting.
Stanford may be a dice roll relative to South Carolina, but I think its worth the gamble at 3/1 odds.
PICK: Stanford +300
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