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 -280 at Caesars Sportsbook, official odds partner of Bet.NOLA.com. Two No. 1 seeds were bounced over the weekend — Stanford losing 54-49 to Ole Miss and Indiana upset 70-68 by Miami — clearing the path for the Gamecocks.
Their elimination also improved odds for other contenders like UConn, LSU and Iowa. LSU opened +2000 to win the title and is now +1200. Virginia Tech (+3000) and Maryland (+4000) also have seen spikes.
With 16 teams remaining there are two teams that are the heaviest favorites in the regional semifinals. Not surprisingly, one is South Carolina, which is a 17-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-point chalk against Utah in the first Sweet 16 game of the Kim Mulkey era.
Best bets of the Sweet 16
LSU (-5) vs. Utah, 4 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, 9 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) vs. Tennessee, 5:30 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 they could do it again.
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