Women's College Basketball Odds: UConn Setting the Pace

We’re closing in on the most anticipated month of college basketball, with the unbeaten UConn Huskies setting the bar as championship favorites while UCLA stays close on their heels in the race for the 2025–26 title.

Aisha Quiñones - Betting Analyst at Covers
Aisha Quiñones • Betting Analyst
Feb 3, 2026 • 17:58 ET • 4 min read
Azzi Fudd UConn Huskies NCAA Women's College Basketball
Photo By - Reuters Connect. UConn Huskies guard Azzi Fudd (35) on the court.

Fresh off their 2025 national championship, the UConn Huskies haven’t missed a beat, opening the season with an unblemished record and looking every bit like the team to beat once again.

Azzi Fudd and Sarah Strong continue to set the tone, forming an unstoppable duo that has UConn poised for another deep run toward April glory.

Dawn Staley’s South Carolina squad entered the season on a full-fledged revenge tour following last year’s title-game loss to Geno Auriemma’s group. That momentum stalled slightly, however, as an overtime defeat to Oklahoma marked the Gamecocks’ second loss and dropped them behind UCLA in the latest championship odds.

With the top of the board tightly packed, several new contenders are beginning to emerge as March Madness approaches, with Oklahoma and Iowa making strong cases to join the national title conversation.

Let's take a look at how the latest 2025–26 championship odds stack up across the field.

Odds to win 2025-26 Women's March Madness

Team bet365
UConn UConn Huskies -300
UCLA UCLA Bruins +700
NFC South Carolina Gamecocks +900
Texas Texas Longhorns +900
LSU LSU Tigers +1400
Vanderbilt Vanderbilt Commodores +7500
Michigan Michigan Wolverines +7500
Oklahoma Oklahoma Sooners +7500
Iowa State Iowa State Cyclones +10000
Iowa Iowa Hawkeyes +10000

Odds as of 2-3.

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Women's March Madness opening odds

  • South Carolina: +145
  • UConn: +400
  • Texas: +400
  • Notre Dame: +700
  • USC: +950
  • UCLA: +1200
  • NC State: +2000
  • LSU: +3000
  • Stanford: +3000
  • Duke: +5000

It should come as no surprise that oddsmakers were high on South Carolina after the Gamecocks became just the 10th team ever to cap off an undefeated season with a national championship.

But it's the UCLA Bruins who shook up the scene this season after going 30-2 and putting all of women's college basketball on notice after being the No. 1 ranked team in the country for most of this season. Led by Lauren Betts and Kiki Rice, the Bruins are out for blood and appear to be a shoe-in to win the Big Ten tournament ahead of March Madness.

Popular March Madness markets

March Madness betting splits

Highest ticket percentage:
•    UConn 17.3%
•    South Carolina 14.8%
•    UCLA 11.1%

Highest handle percentage:
•    UConn 30.3%
•    South Carolina 23.9%
•    UCLA 12.4%

Biggest liabilities:
•    UConn
•    USC
•    South Carolina

All data courtesy of BetMGM.

Understanding March Madness futures odds

Sportsbooks will post odds for the NCAA women's basketball championship as early as the summer before the season starts. These odds are constantly adjusted throughout the offseason as players get hurt, suspended or are traded. Once the season begins in November, title odds will change as often as daily as teams win and lose games and as players get hurt or suspended. Sportsbooks will also adjust the March Madness futures odds based on handle and liability to certain teams.

March Madness futures odds will usually look like this:

  • Indiana Hoosiers +800

This means that on a $100 bet, you'll stand to win $800 if the Hoosiers win the NCAA women's basketball title. If it's close to the end of the regular season or even during the tournament and college basketball has a very dominant team, you might see that a team is has a minus sign (-) ahead of its odds. 

  • South Carolina Gamecocks -165

This means that you would need to bet $165 to win $100 on a South Carolina championship.

Above we have posted the American odds for March Madness futures. However, these are easy to convert to decimal odds or fractional odds with our odds converter tool.

How to bet college basketball futures

Learning how to successfully bet on March Madness is one of the hardest things to do in sports betting. The lose-and-go-home format and the fact that a school needs to win six straight games against quality opponents means that the favorites don't always take home the title.

Another factor that comes into play is that the tournament bracket isn't set until Selection Sunday. As the college basketball season winds down, you can be pretty sure that the big favorites will slide into the bracket as top seeds. But for teams in the middle of the pack, nothing is certain.

As always when betting futures odds, be sure to look into injuries and suspensions. You might find some current value in a team that is expecting to get a key player back before March Madness begins.

Where to bet on Women's March Madness

If you're in a state that allows mobile, or online betting, make sure you know which sites are the best March Madness betting sites. Great betting sites offer sharp odds, quick payouts and are safe and secure when it comes to depositing and withdrawing your money.

Past Women's March Madness champions

Year Champion Runner-Up
2024 South Carolina South Carolina Iowa Iowa
2023 LSU LSU Iowa Iowa
2022 South Carolina South Carolina UConn UConn
2021 Stanford Stanford Arizona Arizona
2020 COVID-19 COVID-19
2019 Baylor Baylor Duke Duke
2018 Notre Dame Notre Dame Mississippi State Mississippi State
2017 South Carolina South Carolina Mississippi State Mississippi State
2016 UConn UConn Syracuse Syracuse
2015 UConn UConn Notre Dame Notre Dame
2014 UConn UConn Notre Dame Notre Dame
2013 UConn UConn Louisville Louisville
2012 Baylor Baylor Notre Dame Notre Dame 

Women's March Madness trends

• The last four winners of the tournament all entered the season as the No. 1 seed.

• Since 1982, a No. 1 seed has made the Final Four every year. 

• UConn has the most women's NCAA titles of all-time (11), including four straight years of successfully defending the championship from 2013-2016.

Women's March Madness Odds

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Aisha Quiñones - Covers
Betting Analyst

Hailing from Harlem, New York, Aisha Quiñones joined Covers in 2024 after an illustrious career with several other major media outlets. A proud Johnnie, after graduating from the Big East basketball powerhouse St. John's University, Quiñones earned her bachelor's degree in sport management and journalism, then obtained her master's degree in media studies from The New School.

Over a span of 12+ years, Quiñones has built her portfolio as a writer, dipped her toe into on-camera work, and also been behind the scenes in producing sports content.

Despite being a New Yorker, Quiñones has always been a lifelong Los Angeles Lakers fan thanks to her mom's joy of watching Kobe Bryant play — so much of a fan to the point that Quiñones named her toy poodle after the late-great legend.

Her hometown roots stay true to her MLB and WNBA choice in teams, as a Yankees and Liberty fan, due to her uncle and grandmother's love for the sports throughout her childhood.

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