The favorites in the 2024 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament all reached the Sweet 16, though a few had to survive close calls.
While clear favorite South Carolina (currently to win it all) won its first two games of the Big Dance by 40-plus points, fellow 1-seed Iowa struggled in the second round against 8-seed West Virginia before pulling away late in a 64-54 win, and 2-seed Stanford nearly suffered an upset loss to 7-seed Iowa State in the Round of 32.
Still, despite a couple near-upsets, the women’s Sweet 16 field is even more chalky than the men’s: every women’s team in the Sweet 16 is a 5-seed or better, with the exception of 7-seed Duke.
Get ready with our 2024 March Madness schedule for the Women’s Sweet 16.
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Can Anyone Challenge Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks?
The most dominant team in the sport in recent years entered this tournament as the clear favorite and has only surpassed its high expectations so far. South Carolina’s first-round romp over Presbyterian should have come as no surprise, but the Cocks faced a legit second-round opponent in North Carolina and didn’t even break a sweat, building a 56-19 halftime lead en route to an 88-41 win.
Entering the Sweet 16, the tournament’s other top seeds — LSU, Iowa, and Texas — are all 7-to-1 or longer to make it two years in a row that someone other than South Carolina wins it all.
Friday’s Women’s Sweet 16 Games and Current Odds
Regional 1, Albany: (2) Notre Dame vs. (3) Oregon State | 2:30 p.m. ET | ESPN
Regional 1, Albany: (1) South Carolina vs. (4) Indiana | 5:00 p.m. ET | ESPN
Regional 4, Portland: (2) Stanford vs. (3) NC State | 7:30 p.m. ET | ESPN
Regional 4, Portland: (1) Texas vs. (4) Gonzaga | 10:00 p.m. ET | ESPN
Saturday’s Women’s Sweet 16 Games and Current Odds
Regional 2, Albany: (2) UCLA vs (3) LSU | 1:00 p.m. ET | ABC
Regional 2, Albany: (1) Iowa vs. (5) Colorado | 3:30 p.m. ET | ABC
Regional 3, Portland: (1) USC vs. (5) Baylor | 5:30 p.m. ET | ESPN
Regional 3, Portland: (3) UConn vs. (7) Duke | 8:00 p.m. ET | ESPN
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2024 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament Futures Odds
According to oddsmakers, if anyone has a chance to deny South Carolina, it’s either Caitlin Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes, who took down the Gamecocks a year ago, or reigning champ LSU. Neither Iowa nor LSU have looked unbeatable so far in this tournament; Iowa was on the ropes against West Virginia on Monday, while LSU won its first-round matchup by just 10 points before going into halftime down 36-32 against 11-seed Middle Tennessee in the Round of 32. The Tigers responded after halftime, though, and ended up blowing out the Blue Raiders, 83-56.
LSU is just a 2.5-point favorite against 2-seed UCLA this weekend, while Iowa is laying as many as 8.5 points against 5-seed Colorado.
As for the more distant longshots, Connecticut and Stanford, both have tricky matchups against ACC opponents Duke and NC State, respectively.
At this point, there’s not a good reason to bet against South Carolina, though the current price on Staley’s team does not offer great value given that South Carolina still has four games left to win.
2024 NCAA Women’s Elite 8 Tips Off on Sunday, March 31
The four matchups that will decide who reaches this year’s Final Four will take place on Sunday, March 31, and Monday, April 1. The Regional 1 (Albany) and Regional 4 (Portland) Finals are scheduled for Sunday, followed by the Regional 2 (Albany) and Regional 3 (Portland) championship games on Monday.
Keep an eye out for the best odds and bets, plus much more from Gaming Today as March Madness continues.