NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament 2022: Final Four Bracket, Odds & Predictions

Three of the four top seeds in the NCAA women's basketball tournament made it to the Final Four.

The South Carolina Gamecocks are matched up with the Louisville Cardinals in a battle between No. 1 seeds, while the Stanford Cardinal face off with the No. 2-seeded Connecticut Huskies.

UConn was the only non-No. 1 seed to advance to the Final Four after winning a double-overtime battle against the NC State Wolfpack to advance to Minneapolis.

South Carolina has been the favorite to cut down the nets in Minnesota all season long, and it heads into the Final Four as a heavy favorite to beat Louisville and ahead of UConn on the futures board.

Final Four Odds

Friday, April 1

No. 1 Louisville vs. No. 1 South Carolina (-8) (7 p.m. ET, ESPN) 

No. 2 UConn (-1.5) vs. No. 1 Stanford (9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)

To Win Title

South Carolina: -150 (bet $150 to win $100)

UConn: +200 (bet $100 to win $200) 

Stanford: +400

Louisville: +800

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.

Predictions

South Carolina Lands in Title Game

South Carolina has been on top of women's college basketball for most of the season.

Dawn Staley's Gamecocks are looking for the program's first title since 2017, and they should get the chance to play for that opportunity Sunday.

South Carolina rolled through three of its four NCAA tournament opponents with double-digit victories. The fourth win was an eight-point victory over the North Carolina Tar Heels.

Aliyah Boston had 28 points and 22 rebounds in the win over North Carolina, which was the team's toughest opponent based on seed so far in the tournament.

Some of Boston's best performances this season have come against Top 25 squads. She had double-doubles against Stanford, UConn, the Maryland Terrapins and Duke Blue Devils in nonconference play and had a minimum of 12 rebounds in four double-doubles against the best SEC sides in conference action.

Louisville does not have a single player who stands more than 6'5", so length in the paint will be a disadvantage for the Cardinals.

Jeff Walz's team does, however, boast some fantastic guards who could wreak havoc on the South Carolina defense for stretches of the game. Hailey Van Lith and Kianna Smith combine to average 25.4 points per game. Van Lith produced four straight 20-point performances to get Louisville to the Final Four.

South Carolina needs to either slow down Van Lith or match her production to move on to the National Championship.

Destanni Henderson and Zia Cooke both average more than 10 points per game and could combine to match Van Lith's output from the guard position.

South Carolina's defense will also be key to earning a title shot. The Gamecocks have not allowed an opponent to score more than 65 points since January 2.

Stanford Earns Shot at Title Repeat

Stanford comes into Minneapolis as the slight underdog against UConn.

The Cardinal should not be tagged with that title given their title-winning experience from last season in San Antonio.

The trio of Haley Jones, Cameron Brink and Lexie Hull have been fantastic throughout the tournament for the Cardinal. That trio can outmatch UConn's star power, led by Paige Bueckers, to set up a showdown with South Carolina.

Each of three Stanford players averages more than 12.5 points per game. Hull, the Cardinal's top scorer, put up 36, 19 and 20 points in the past three rounds.

Brink had two double-doubles to start the tournament and contributed six blocks in the Elite Eight triumph over the Texas Longhorns.

Jones produced back-to-back double-doubles of her own in the second weekend. She chipped in 10 assists as well in the wins over Texas and the Maryland Terrapins.

UConn needs to find a way to slow down Stanford's big three on the defensive side of the ball and on the boards to score at a high rate.

Bueckers and Co. can match the offensive production. UConn has four players who average more than 10 points per game. However, the Stanford trio has played so well on the defensive end in the NCAA tournament. That could be the difference-maker in Friday's second game to give Stanford a shot at repeating as national champion.

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