NCAA Women's Basketball Bracket 2017: Championship Odds for Final Four
The NCAA women's Final Four is set following a pair of Elite Eight games Monday evening.
The UConn Huskies romped past the Oregon Ducks to secure their 10th straight trip to the Final Four, per SportsCenter on Twitter, while the evening's final matchup saw the South Carolina Gamecocks fend off the Florida State Seminoles to set up a potential title clash between No. 1 seeds.
And now that the national semifinals are set, we can try to project what this year's championship will look like. Not surprisingly, the odds figure to feature the Huskies as heavy favorites since they've won four straight national titles and have rattled off 111 straight wins.
Championship Odds
| University of Connecticut | 1-10 |
| South Carolina | 15-1 |
| Stanford | 25-1 |
| Mississippi State | 35-1 |
Final Four Schedule
| Friday, March 31 | No. 2 Stanford vs. No. 1 South Carolina | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN2 |
| Friday, March 31 | No. 2 Mississippi State vs. No. 1 UConn | 9:30 p.m. | ESPN2 |
| Sunday, April 2 | National Championship | 6 p.m. | ESPN |
Final Four Preview
Simply put, this title is the Huskies' to lose.
As if the team's winning streak wasn't impressive enough, the Huskies have dismantled every opponent they've faced to this point in the NCAA tournament. Specifically, UConn owns an average margin of victory of 36 points through four wins in the Big Dance.
In fact, the Huskies' second-largest margin of victory during that span came Monday night in a 38-point win over Oregon.
"They've owned the whole month of March, they weren't just along for the ride," coach Geno Auriemma said of his team after the regional final triumph, according to the Associated Press' Doug Feinberg. "It's theirs and that's a huge step."
In order to book a spot in the finals, the Huskies will have to knock off the second-seeded Mississippi State Bulldogs, a team they crushed 98-38 in last season's Sweet 16.
Now the Bulldogs will be out for revenge.
And based on the way their offense has been humming of late, it's possible they could give the Huskies a scare.
Not only did the Bulldogs drop 110 points in their first-round win over Troy, but they posted 92 points in the second round versus DePaul and 94 in an Elite Eight win against the No. 1-seeded Baylor Bears.
However, the Bulldogs offense can't afford to miss a beat against the Huskies' dominant defense. According to ESPN.com, UConn ranks ninth nationally in opponents' field-goal percentage (34.7) and seventh in points per game allowed (54.1).
In the other semifinal, the second-seeded Stanford Cardinal will try to book a spot in the title game by playing spoiler against the No. 1-seeded Gamecocks.
If the regular season was any indication, points could prove to be at a premium. That's because the Cardinal and Gamecocks both grade out among the nation's top defensive teams, and they rank eighth and 16th, respectively, in opponents' field-goal percentage.
That said, Dawn Staley's Gamecocks wield a more potent offense, one that ranks ninth nationally with a 47.3 percent conversion rate from the field.
If the Gamecocks can keep that efficient shot-making up against the Cardinal while locking down on the other end, they may very well get another shot at the Huskies after losing to the nation's No. 1 team 66-55 on Feb. 13.
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