NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament 2023: Full Bracket and Championship Odds
The South Carolina Gamecocks need six victories in the NCAA women's basketball tournament to complete the perfect season.
Dawn Staley's team enters the Big Dance with a 32-0 record, and it is the clear favorite to cut down the nets in Dallas.
As the No. 1 overall seed, South Carolina has the easiest path to the Final Four. It does not have to deal with some of the more dangerous No. 2 seeds in the Elite Eight.
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The Iowa Hawkeyes and UConn Huskies are the most dangerous No. 2 seeds in the bracket, and the odds suggest both teams have a better chance to win the NCAA tournament than one of the four No. 1 seeds.
The women's NCAA tournament plays the first-and-second-round games on the home court of the highest seed in each quadrant. In a change from previous years, there will be two regional sites.
Greenville, South Carolina, and Seattle will host all of the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games. The four regions in the bracket were designated Greenville 1 & 2 and Seattle 3 & 4 to represent that change.
NCAA Women's Tournament Bracket
Make your picks: Play the NCAA March Madness Women's Bracket Challenge.
NCAA Women's Tournament Odds
South Carolina (-200; bet $200 to win $100)
UConn (+800; bet $100 to win $800)
Stanford (+900)
Indiana (+1000)
Iowa (+1800)
LSU (+1800)
Utah (+4000)
Maryland (+5000)
Texas (+6000)
Notre Dame (+6000)
Iowa State (+7500)
Duke (+7500)
South Carolina is the clear favorite to win its second championship in a row and third since 2017.
The Gamecocks have as easy of a path as you could ask for as the No. 1 overall seed since they will not have to leave their home state until the Final Four.
Their first two games will be played in their home arena in Columbia, South Carolina, and then the scene shifts to Greenville, where they have a significant home-court advantage.
It is difficult to bet on the Maryland Terrapins, or any team in the Greenville 1 bracket, because of South Carolina's home-court advantage.
Zia Cooke, Aliyah Boston and Co. won three SEC tournament games by double figures in Greenville last week. Only four teams lost by single digits to South Carolina, and all of those games took place outside of South Carolina.
UConn lost by four points to South Carolina on February 5 on its home floor, while the Stanford Cardinal pushed the Gamecocks to overtime on November 20.
UConn and Stanford could pose the biggest challenges to South Carolina in the Final Four. Stanford would play South Carolina in the national semifinal round, and a potential UConn-South Carolina rematch would happen in the national championship.
Geno Auriemma's side lost to South Carolina in the national title game last season, and it would love to get back to that point to enact some revenge on the top team in the sport.
The Huskies are the second favorite to win the event, but they are the No. 2 seed in their bracket. The Virginia Tech Hokies are the top seed in the Seattle 3 Region, but they have the 15th-best odds to win the tournament.
Iowa is the other No. 2 seed capable of upsetting a top seed and advancing to the Final Four. Caitlin Clark can single-handedly take the Hawkeyes to Dallas. She needs a massive performance in the Elite Eight against Stanford to set up a potential showdown with South Carolina.
The Hawkeyes may not be a good bet to win the title because they did struggle with Maryland and Indiana in Big Ten play, but if you think they can beat Stanford, they are available at +225 to win the Seattle 4 Region.
There is a good chance the Final Four field will be filled up by the top seeds in the tournament. Only No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 seeds advanced to the Final Four in every women's tournament since 2017.
Chalk could hold in the tournament and South Carolina can win it all, but if you are looking for an alternative to the top team, history suggests a bet should be placed on one of the other seven top teams in the sport.
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