Women’s NCAA Tournament Betting Options Expanding, Still Lagging Behind Men’s
The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament isn’t the only game in town for sports bettors this March.
Just like the men, the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament will provide its own March Madness at the sportsbooks.
While the selection of betting options may not be as diverse as the men, betting on women’s college basketball is still an available market for the coming weeks.
Women’s NCAA Tournament Info Guide
This year, the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament will feature 68 teams for the first time.
Just like the men, the 68-team field will also be announced on Selection Sunday. The bracket will be unveiled on Sunday, March 13 at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Once the field is set, here’s how the tournament will play out.
- First Four: March 16-17
- First Round: March 18-19
- Second Round: March 20-21
- Sweet 16: March 25-26
- Elite Eight: March 27-28
- Final Four: April 1
- NCAA Championship: April 3
What can you bet on for the NCAA Women’s Tournament?
The current betting selections aren’t entirely clear as of yet, but here are a few things we do know.
Leading up to Selection Sunday, a select number of conference tournament game odds have been available.
Along with being able to bet on the spread, total and moneyline, some books are providing team prop bets as well.
Currently, a number of sportsbooks are providing a futures market to win the NCAA Women’s Tournament. All books see top-ranked South Carolina as the favorite to win it all.
Come tournament time, it’s safe to assume that some (if not all) tournament games will be available to wager on.
The real question comes with prop betting options. Michigan does allow for individual prop bets on college athletes. We have seen them during the college football season and during the men’s basketball season. Will they appear for NCAA women’s games? Time will tell.
Don’t forget your Women’s NCAA Tournament bracket
Again, the men’s tournament doesn’t have to take up all your bracket-busting glory this year.
Women’s tournament bracket pools are becoming more commonplace and just as difficult to predict.
When making your selections, here are some tips to consider:
- Surprisingly, one No. 16 seed (Harvard, 1998) has pulled off an upset of a No. 1 seed. However, no No. 15 seed or No. 14 seed has ever won a game. Conversely, 23 No. 12 seeds have upset a No. 5 seed, and 33 No. 11 seeds have upset a No. 6 seed.
- Stick to the top seeds. The last nine NCAA women’s champions have been No. 1 seeds. In that span, three times the Final Four has been all No. 1 seeds. An average of 2.6 top seeds have made the Final Four over the past nine tournaments.
- On the flip side, just two teams that were a No. 5 seed or greater have reached the Final Four in the last 10 years. That was No. 5 Louisville in 2013 and No. 7 Washington in 2016.
- Connecticut has won 11 NCAA Tournaments, most of any program. The Huskies last title came in 2016. Only Tennessee (8), Baylor (3) and Stanford (3) have won more than two.
- UConn has also reached 13 consecutive Final Fours, winning six championships during the run.
- The Big Ten has won just one NCAA Tournament in conference history. That came in 1999 when Purdue won it all, topping Duke in the final.
Michigan the lone state contender
The Michigan Wolverines will be carrying the banner for in-state teams in this year’s NCAA Women’s Tournament.
Michigan is currently ranked No. 12 in the nation and went 22-6 during the season.
The Wolverines were 13-4 in the Big Ten, ending up third in the conference standings.
U-M is limping into March Madness, as it lost its final regular season game at Iowa, 104-80. Michigan then followed it up by being upset in its Big Ten Tournament opener with Nebraska last Friday, 76-73.
ESPN’s Bracketology currently lists U-M as a 3 seed for the Big Dance.
Last year, Michigan reached the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history. The Wolverines have made nine previous tournament appearances.
When it comes to betting, FanDuel Sportsbook MI is definitely offering up the best odds for Michigan right now. The Wolverines are listed at +4000 to win the national title at FD. That compares to +2500 at Caesars Sportsbook MI and +1400 at PointsBet Sportsbook MI.
Michigan may very well be the lone in-state team in this year’s field. Michigan State isn’t projected to advance after a 15-15 season.
Western Michigan is in the MAC Tournament quarterfinals on Wednesday, but as a No. 7 seed. Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan didn’t advance.
Oakland University reached the semifinals of the Horizon League Tournament before falling to top-seeded IUPUI.
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