Women's March Madness Odds: South Carolina Outduels Iowa in Finals

Caitlin Clark helped put the women's college game on the map in last season's National Championship, and this year's women's March Madness odds are reaching new heights of popularity, with Clark once again back in the Championship.

Clark did everything she could, scoring 30 points with eight rebounds, and five assists, but it was not enough to topple the longstanding favorite South Carolina Gamecocks in the National Championship Game on Sunday, April 7. 

After a hot start, the Hawkeyes were outscored in the final three quarters as Kamilla Cardoso hauled in 17 rebounds to go along with 15 points in the 87-75 win. With the National Championship Game in the rearview, let's look back at the college basketball odds for the 2024 Women's NCAA Tournament.

Odds to win Women's March Madness

Team
South Carolina Gamecocks	-290
Iowa Hawkeyes	+225

Odds as of April 7, 2024.

Favorite to win March Madness

South Carolina Gamecocks (-290)

Led by longtime head coach Dawn Staley, the No. 1 Gamecocks remain the team to beat despite losing five players — including first-overall pick Aliyah Boston — to the WNBA draft over the offseason. 

Boasting a No. 1 point differential of +29.17, South Carolina (32-0) took care of business in the SEC Conference Tournament, defeating LSU 79-72 in the Championship Game. The Gamecocks are led by 6-foot-7 center Kamilla Cardoso, sporting 58.4% shooting from the field, along with 9.5 rebounds per game and 2.6 blocks per game.

The Gamecocks crushed Presbyterian 91-39 in the opening round before blasting North Carolina 88-41 in Round 2. They held on to beat Indiana and booked their spot in the Final Four with a 12-point win over No. 3 Oregon State.

The dominance continued Friday night, crushing NC State 78-59 to end one of the program's twin Final Four bids and set up a clash with Iowa in the final. After falling behind 27-20 in the first quarter, the Gamecocks kicked it into gear, taking the second frame by 10 points and never looked back as they claimed their second National Championship in three years.

Iowa Hawkeyes (+240)

After falling to LSU in the National Championship last season, the Hawkeyes are back as the biggest threat in the Midwest.

Led by the nation's leading scorer Caitlin Clark (31.9 points per game), the Big Ten champs are steamrolling opponents, averaging a nation-leading 92.8 ppg on the offensive side of the floor. 

Iowa opened the tournament with a 91-65 rout of Holy Cross and a 64-54 win over West Virginia. Clark & Co. easily dispatched Colorado in the Sweet 16, before pulling away from LSU 94-87 behind Clark's monster 41/7/12 night, avenging last season's title game defeat.

While Clark was uncharacteristically quiet against UConn (Hannah Stuelke's 23 points led the team), she left it all on the court in a valiant effort against South Carolina. It was not to be, however, as Iowa lost in the National Championship Game for the second consecutive season.

Women's March Madness Key Dates

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