After the first two rounds in the women’s NCAA tournament, there have been some changes in the national championship futures market.
South Carolina is an even heavier favorite, now priced at -200 at FanDuel Sportsbook. Two No. 1 seeds were bounced over the weekend with Stanford losing 54-49 to Ole Miss and Indiana being upset 70-68 by Miami. This cleared the path for the Gamecocks.
The aforementioned No. 1 seeds’ elimination also improved the odds for other contenders, such as Iowa, LSU and UConn. Maryland (+2000) and Virginia Tech (+4000) also have seen spikes.
With 16 teams remaining, there are two teams that are the heaviest favorites in the regional semifinals. Unsurprisingly, one is South Carolina, which is a 17.5-point favorite against the UCLA Bruins. The second is UConn, which is laying 9.5 points against Ohio State.
No other spread is close to those two, with the next largest checking in between 5 and 6 points. One of those favorites is LSU, which is 5.5-point chalk against Utah in the first Sweet 16 game of the Kim Mulkey era.
Best bets of the Sweet 16
LSU (-5.5) vs. Utah, 5 p.m. Friday
Alissa Pili, Utah’s transfer from USC, has done everything for the Utes, from posting up to making shots at the top of the key. But LSU rebounded from a sluggish win against Hawaii and is starting to rise in the postseason.
Louisville (-2.5) vs. Ole Miss, 10 p.m. Friday
Ole Miss went into Stanford and showed more grit than the Cardinal to outlast them 54-49. Louisville is also a gritty team and can be hard to stop once they get on a roll, which will start with point guard Haley Van Lith.
Virginia Tech (-1.5) vs. Tennessee, 6:30 p.m. Saturday
Tennessee is a team that will make teams work for every point and has an offense that will battle for every ball. But Virginia Tech beat Tennessee 59-56 in the regular season and the Hokies could do it again.
Complete list of Sweet 16 odds
(As of Tuesday evening from FanDuel Sportsbook)
Friday’s games
No. 4 Villanova (-3.5, ML -160) vs. No. 9 Miami (ML +130, o/u 130.5), 2:30 p.m.
No. 3 LSU (-5.5, ML -220) vs. No. 2 Utah (ML +176, o/u 150.5), 5 p.m.
No. 2 Iowa (-5.5, ML -250) vs. No. 6 Colorado (ML +198, o/u 145.5), 7:30 p.m.
No. 5 Louisville (-2.5, ML -144) vs. No. 8 Ole Miss (ML +218, o/u 126.5), 10 p.m.
Saturday’s games
No. 2 Maryland (-5.5, ML -220) vs. No. 3 Notre Dame (ML +176, o/u 137.5), 11:30 a.m.
No. 1 South Carolina (-17.5, ML -3500) vs. No. 4 UCLA (ML +1200, o/u 127.5), 2 p.m.
No. 2 Connecticut (-9.5, ML -590) vs. No. 3 Ohio State (ML +410, o/u 144.5), 4 p.m.
No. 1 Virginia Tech (-1.5, ML -110) vs. No. 4 Tennessee (ML -110, o/u 138.5), 6:30 p.m.
Odds to win the national championship
(All odds from FanDuel Sportsbook)
South Carolina -200
Connecticut +500
LSU +750
Iowa +1200
Maryland +2000
Tennessee +4000
Virginia Tech +4000
Utah +55000
Villanova +5500
Notre Dame +11000
Colorado +13000
Louisville +13000
Ole Miss +13000
Ohio State +16000
Miami +24000
UCLA +24000
