NCAAW Tournament Preview 

March is upon us, which means...let the MADNESS begin! After an outcry over gender inequities in college basketball in 2021, the NCAA made some important changes to the women's tournament this year 👇

• For the first time in women's tournament history, the NCAA will use "March Madness" for marketing and branding

• There will also be a field of 68 teams (like the men's) instead of the usual 64

We've become accustomed to seeing UConn as the No. 1 overall seed and the betting favorite, but South Carolina has stolen their crown in 2022 🤑

Odds To Win The NCAAW Tournament

• South Carolina: +160 (No. 1 seed; bet $100, win $160)

• UConn: +350 (No. 2 seed)

• Stanford: +500 (No. 1 seed)

• NC State: +1000 (No. 1 seed)

• Louisville: +1500 (No. 1 seed)

One team we're not seeing on this list is Iowa. The Hawkeyes are led by arguably the best player in college basketball, Caitlin Clark 👸

• Clark leads the nation with 27.4 PPG and 7.9 APG, while her squad is +4000 to win the title

• As the No. 2 seed, Iowa is on a collision course with South Carolina in the Greensboro Region if both teams perform the way we expect them to 😳

The Favorite 

Led by Coach Dawn Staley, the Gamecocks have been the best team in the NCAA since the start of the season. They finished 29-2, with their only blemishes coming in an OT loss at Missouri in December, and a heartbreaking loss to Kentucky in the SEC Championship

However, when you have a John R. Wooden Award Finalist in Aliyah Boston on your squad, it's much easier to bounce back from an upset loss

• Boston is averaging 16.8 PPG and 12.0 RPG on 54.4% shooting, while also recording 24 consecutive double-doubles

• She's also a major two-way player, grabbing 8.2 defensive RPG and averaging 2.6 BPG

• No stat is more telling than her 14.0 total win shares, which leads the nation

In 39 NCAAW tournaments, there have been a total of 156 No. 1 seeds. Of those, 55.7% (87 teams) have made the Final Four. With history on their side, I think we can expect South Carolina to be one of the last four teams playing at the Target Center in Minnesota come April 🔥

Don't Forget About The Huskies 

UConn as a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament is not something we're used to seeing, however, they were placed in the Bridgeport Region, which raised some eyebrows. Even though the Huskies cruised to their 20th Big East title, the status of Paige Bueckers remains the top storyline surrounding UConn 

• Bueckers suffered a non-contact knee injury in the final seconds of UConn's win over Notre Dame on December 5, 2021

• She underwent surgery, missing 19 games, before returning on February 25, 2022 against St. John's

• Bueckers hasn't played more than 18 minutes in a game since coming back from injury, but Coach Geno Auriemma knows that her recovery will be more mental than physical 🧠

With 11 NCAAW Tournament Championships under his belt, Coach Auriemma will have to prepare his team knowing Bueckers won't be 100% healthy 

For My Parlay Gurus

For the women, the SEC was one of two conferences to earn eight tournament bids (the ACC being the other). With the Gamecocks battling great competition all season long, I think they're well prepared to be the last team standing (+160)

Since the NCAAW Tournament doesn't kick off until Wednesday, I'm picking the NCAAM First Four games tonight for my parlay. I'm riding with the two favorites, Texas Southern and Indiana...hello perfect bracket 😏

• Texas Southern -3.5 vs. Texas A&M-CC: -105

• Indiana -4 @ Wyoming: -110

$100 on this bet would win you $273 -- if we hit, make sure to email [email protected] for $100*. First come, first serve 😉

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