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

Four of the most successful women's basketball teams of the past decade are set to converge on Minneapolis for the NCAA women's basketball tournament Final Four.

The South Carolina Gamecocks have been the standard of the sport all season long. Dawn Staley's team is looking for its second title in program history. The No. 1 overall seed faces the Louisville Cardinals, who have been to the Final Four on three occasions since 2009. Louisville reached at least the Elite Eight in the past four tournaments.

Geno Auriemma's Connecticut Huskies need no introduction. The Big East squad owns the most championships in the women's game with 11. UConn needs to get past the reigning champion Stanford Cardinal to claim its 12th title in Sunday's championship game.

Stanford is attempting to become the first repeat winner of the NCAA women's tournament since UConn's three-peat from 2014-16. The Cardinal have one of the deepest scoring units in the country, and that could cause a ton of trouble for the 11-time champion.

NCAA Women's Final Four Odds

Friday, April 1

Louisville vs. South Carolina (-8) (over/under: 119.5) (7 p.m. ET, ESPN) 

UConn vs. Stanford (-1) (over/under: 129) (9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.

Predictions

Louisville vs. South Carolina (-8) 

South Carolina has been the dominant program in women's basketball all season.

The Gamecocks have rarely done anything wrong, and they come into Minneapolis as the favorite to cut down the nets.

Staley's team won three of its four tournament games by double figures, but only one of those clashes came against a top-seven seed. The Gamecocks have an opportunity to prove they can beat one of the best teams in the country to reach the final.

Louisville beat two of the other top-four seeds in its region, and it did so by double-digit margins. The Cardinals have a fantastic leading scorer in Hailey Van Lith that will cause trouble to the South Carolina defense.

However, South Carolina should take over the contest through double-double machine Aliyah Boston, who will have a size advantage over the entire Louisville frontcourt. Boston had 28 points and 22 rebounds in South Carolina's toughest game of the tournament against the North Carolina Tar Heels.

South Carolina is 7-1 when Boston has hit the 20-point mark this season. All of those wins were by eight points or more. If the Gamecocks get Boston going early, they could cruise into Sunday's national championship.

UConn vs. Stanford (-1) 

Friday's second contest in Minneapolis should be the better of the two games.

UConn won a few battles over past three rounds to land a spot in the Final Four and go after its 12th title.

Stanford controlled the competition in the Spokane region through its terrific trio of Cameron Brink, Haley Jones and Lexie Hull.

Stanford's leading trio averages more than 12.7 points per game, and each player chips in on the boards as well. Brink leads the team with 8.1 rebounds per game, and Jones had a double-digit board total in two NCAA tournament contests.

The Cardinal need to use their rebounding strength to prevent many second-chance opportunities for Paige Bueckers and the UConn offense. If Stanford limits UConn to one shot per possession, it should feel confident in its ability to pull away on the offensive end thanks to its top three scorers.

The Huskies have four players who average more than 10 points per game, but there is a concern about the team's play from earlier in the season against the other two Final Four teams. South Carolina out-rebounded UConn by 17 and held it to a trio of three-point makes, while Louisville contained UConn to 20 percent from the three-point line.

Of course, UConn is a better team now than it was in November and December, but Stanford could still pick qualities from those games and use them Friday, specifically the rebounding and perimeter defense.

Stanford's defense held its past two opponents to 8-of-32 from the three-point line. A similar performance on the perimeter could be the difference-maker.

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