NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament 2026 Final Four Odds, Schedule, Bracket

The four No. 1 seeds in the 2026 NCAA women's tournament meet on Friday night in Phoenix for the Final Four.

The UConn Huskies are the reigning champion and have been the class of the sport all season long.

UConn puts its undefeated record on the line against the South Carolina Gamecocks in Friday's opener.

The second matchup pits the Texas Longhorns against the UCLA Bruins in a rematch of a November game won by the Longhorns.

No. 1 South Carolina vs. No. 1 UConn (-6.5)

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Odds via FanDuel Sportsbook.

Friday, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN

The bigger game of the two in terms of name brand could be the lesser competitive game on Friday night in Phoenix.

UConn comes into the Final Four with a 38-0 record. Few teams have played close game with the Huskies over 38 games. They won all four of their NCAA tournament games by at least 18 points.

South Carolina went 1-2 in its two clashes with Texas this season. That could be an indicator of how competitive the Gamecocks can be with UConn.

Dawn Staley's team scored in the 60s in all three meetings with the Longhorns, who represented the highest level of competition for the Gamecocks this season.

South Carolina needs to drag UConn into a defensive battle to have a shot at springing the upset on Friday.

The Sarah Strong-Azzi Fudd combination averages over 35 points per game for the Huskies. If both players score at a high rate, UConn can win any game in runaway fashion.

If South Carolina slows down one of UConn's top two scorers, there's a higher chance of a defensive battle occurring.

South Carolina does have five players who average over 10 points per game, so it's possible that it could go basket-for-basket with the top team in the country.

But a high-scoring game likely means Fudd and Strong are making a ton of baskets for UConn. They will be the two best players on the floor in the matchup.

Geno Auriemma's team would love to have the Fudd-Strong duo go off and for its defense to play well again. The Huskies held all four of their NCAA tournament opponents to 52 points or fewer.

If the Huskies play up to their potential, like they have all season, they will put themselves in position to repeat as national champion.

Prediction: UConn (-6.5)

No. 1 Texas (-1.5) vs. No. 1 UCLA

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Friday, 9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN

Texas and UCLA met back in November in a contest won by the Longhorns.

The Longhorns forced 10 more turnovers than the Bruins and they held UCLA star Lauren Betts to a single-digit point total.

If Texas replicates those two things on Friday, it should defeat the Bruins once again.

UCLA committed 29 turnovers during the second weekend of the NCAA tournament, so that's still an issue the Bruins have to work on .

Betts has had three 20-point performances in the NCAA tournament. She averaged 14.3 points per game against ranked foes prior to the Big Dance. She went over that average in six games against Top 25 opponents.

If Betts scores at least 15-20 points, the Bruins will be in a tighter game with the Longhorns.

There's no guarantee that sets UCLA up for a win. After all, Texas won all four of its NCAA tournament games by over 20 points and held all four opponents under 60 points.

The SEC side has a star scorer in Madison Booker and its defense has been stellar all tournament.

UCLA is more than capable of making this a game, but Texas is playing better basketball right now.

Prediction: Texas (-1.5)