Yardbarker
NCAAW title odds: Iowa surges as women’s college basketball wagering up a staggering amount
Pictured: Caitlin Clark of the Iowa Hawkeyes against Jaz Shelley of the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images

Perhaps it’s the Caitlin Clark effect, but one thing’s for certain – betting on women’s college hoops has never been more popular.

In fact, it’s not even close.

According to DraftKings, betting on NCAA Women’s Basketball is a whopping 14 times higher year-over-year by handle and 13 times higher year-over-year by total bets placed.

Sunday's Big Ten Tournament Final overtime thriller between Iowa State and Nebraska was yet another reason why the sport has been so popular this season. The Hawkeyes have been a must-watch event all year long because of Clark, and she once again put on a show in Iowa's 94-89 come-from-behind overtime win.

Iowa trailed for nearly the entire game, but she hit the game-tying bucket with just over 33-seconds remaining in regulation to send the game to overtime. She finished the game with 34 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds to help deliver Iowa its third straight Big Ten title.

The Hawkeyes' win further shook up the NCAA Women's title odds as March Madness approaches. Not surprisingly, sportsbooks are seeing the most action on Iowa as Caitlin Clark-mania has taken the sports world by storm. She’s made national news this year as she marched up the record books and passed Pete Maravich for the most career points in NCAA history.

She entered the weekend averaging 32.3 points per game and will be turning pro after this year’s NCAA tournament.

As a result, sportsbooks have a ton of liability on Iowa as a whopping 34.8% of all tickets is on the Hawkeyes to win the NCAA tournament. The next highest is South Carolina with 17.9% of tickets and Ohio State at 9.8%. There’s been significant movement regarding the latter schools over the past week. Odds for the Gamecocks to win the title shifted from +100 to -130 at FanDuel while the Buckeyes have moved from +2000 to +1500.

South Carolina is a perfect 29-0 and atop the AP Top 25 rankings. Despite the Clark hype, South Carolina has the highest handle by a significant amount (43.5%) while Iowa has 22.8%, and LSU has 12.0%.

Can you name every NCAA women's basketball champion since 1982?
SCORE:
0/42
TIME:
5:00
1982
Louisiana Tech
1983
USC
1984
USC
1985
Old Dominion
1986
Texas
1987
Tennessee
1988
Louisiana Tech
1989
Tennessee
1990
Stanford
1991
Tennessee
1992
Stanford
1993
Texas Tech
1994
North Carolina
1995
Connecticut
1996
Tennessee
1997
Tennessee
1998
Tennessee
1999
Purdue
2000
Connecticut
2001
Notre Dame
2002
Connecticut
2003
Connecticut
2004
Connecticut
2005
Baylor
2006
Maryland
2007
Tennessee
2008
Tennessee
2009
Connecticut
2010
Connecticut
2011
Texas A&M
2012
Baylor
2013
Connecticut
2014
Connecticut
2015
Connecticut
2016
Connecticut
2017
South Carolina
2018
Notre Dame
2019
Baylor
2021
Stanford
2022
South Carolina
2023
LSU
2024
South Carolina

NCAA Women's Basketball Odds

Odds via FanDuel as off Sunday, Mar. 10.

Team Odds
South Carolina -115
LSU +550
Iowa +600
Stanford +1200
Ohio State +2000
UCLA +3000
Connecticut +3000
USC +3000
NC State +4000
Texas +4000
Notre Dame +12000
Oregon State +12000
Virginia Tech +15000
Utah +15000
Kansas State +15000
Indiana +15000
Baylor +15000
Colorado +15000
Gonzaga +15000
Oklahoma +15000

More must-reads:

Sign up for the Bark Bets Newsletter

Bark Bets is Yardbarker's free daily guide to the world of sports betting. You'll get:

  • Picks and predictions from our in-house experts
  • The last-minute updates that give you an edge
  • Special offers from Sportsbooks

Subscribe now!

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.