Women's March Madness Guide

Women's March Madness

Betting on the NCAAW March Madness saw unprecedented growth last season, in large part due to the intense interest the public had in Iowa star Caitlin Clark. But many bettors probably discovered a fortunate truth about betting on the NCAAW Tournament.

There is money to be made, and you don’t need to be a superfan to make it.

Interested? Want to know more? Are you curious to see how I back up such an assertion? Well, then, keep reading. We’ll cover some basics, like what markets are available for Women’s March Madness betting, why you should give it a try, some interesting stats, and more!

📊NCAAW Markets
🔍Why Bet On NCAAW
🥇Historically Dominant Teams
🏀Trends & Stats

Women's March Madness Betting Markets

Your options will not be unlike the Men’s tournament, just not as many:

The traditional betting line (moneyline, point spread, total) for all 67 games (first four through the championship game.
Game/player props: Not as many as men’s games.
Live betting
Tournament Most Outstanding Player
Futures Markets: tournament champion, to make Final Four/ win region.
Parlays, same-game parlays

College Basketball with FanDuel

Why Bet on Women's March Madness?

You should bet on the NCAAW Tournament for the same reason you bet on the men’s: because you want to win some money. But you watch more men’s games than women’s, so why not just stick to men’s games? My answer to that question is simple:

Finding value is much easier with women's college basketball than with men's.

Women’s basketball is a much smaller market than men’s. Consequently, sportsbooks are not going to dedicate the same resources to women’s games/markets, giving you a better shot at finding value.

Without the public flooding one side of a bet or sharps throwing their weight around as they do for the men’s tournament, books are less likely to feel the need to move the line.

Of course, tons of trends and stats can help make it easier (and we’ll go over them in a minute; there are some doozies). But this might be the best reason—women’s teams are more reliable.

The women’s game does not have the one-and-done problem that the men’s game does. Transferring is not as prevalent, either. Coaches don’t have to rebuild their roster every offseason.

As a result, teams are more apt to play together longer, giving them a better chance of growing and developing into a well-oiled machine. So, good teams are more likely to become great, and great teams to become legendary.

NCAAW Basketball History— Dominant Teams

There have been many great women’s basketball teams over the years, but from a historical perspective, three programs stand out:

Tennessee Volunteers

Under Pat Summit's leadership (1974-2012), the Vols won 16 SEC regular season and conference tournament titles, made it to the Final Four 18 times, and won eight national championships.

Tennessee is the only team that has appeared in every NCAA Tournament.

Connecticut Huskies

Under Geno Auriemma (1985-2013), the Huskies made the Final Four 14 times, the title game nine times, and won eight national championships. After he retired in 2013, the team went on to win the next three.

Since 2008, the Huskies have failed to make the NCAA Tournament just once (2023).

South Carolina Gamecocks

Under head coach Dan Staley, the Gamecocks have been a mainstay in the NCAA Tournament since the 2011-12 season, making it to the Final Four six times and winning the National Championship three times (2017, 2022, and 2024).

It may be a little generous to include South Carolina in the same conversation as Tennessee and Connecticut. However, with the direction Staley has the program headed, her resume could rival Summit’s and Auriemma's by the time she’s done.

NCAAW Basketball Betting Trends and Interesting Stats

There are some key stats to consider before placing college basketball bets. Keep these in mind before betting on Women's college basketball:

Preseason Poll/Pre-Tournament Poll

Preseason No. 1s have done well over the years, just not recently. Since the first NCAA Tournament in 1982, 18 teams ranked No. 1 in the preseason poll went on to win the national championship. In the last 21 Tournaments, ten were won by preseason No. 1s.
However, only one of the last seven winners was the No. 1 team in the preseason polls.
Since 2003, every national champion was ranked no higher than No. 16 in the preseason poll.
Of the last 21 champions, 19 began the season ranked inside the top ten.
Since 1982, 20 teams have been ranked No. 1 in the country heading into the Tournament and went on to win the national championship. Six of the last ten champions were ranked No. 1 heading into the Tournament.

No. 1 Seeds

At least one has made the Final Four in every Tournament.
All four made it four times (1989, 2012, 2015, 2018).
The title game has featured two No. 1 seeds 15 times, the most recent occurrence being last season.
A No. 1 seed has been defeated in the first round once (1998).

Miscellaneous

Twenty teams have had undefeated records entering the Tournament; 10 went on to win.
Teams from the same conference have met in the championship game seven times.
A No. 14 or 15 seed has never made it out of the first round.
A No. 13 seed has made it to the second round four times and to the Sweet Sixteen three times.
Only four No. 12 seeds have ever made the Sweet Sixteen.
One No. 11 seed has made it to the Elite Eight.
Two No. 10 seeds have made it to the Elite Eight
Two No. 9 seeds have made it to the Elite Eight; one made it to the Final Four.
Two No. 8 seeds have made it to the Sweet Sixteen.
Four No. 7 seeds have made it to the Elite Eight; two have made the Final Four.
Two No. 6 seeds have made it to the Final Four.
Every champion has been a No. 1 (32), No. 2 (seven), or No. 3 seed (three).
A No. 5 seed is the lowest seed to make the national championship game.
There has never been an official upset in the national championship game.

Now before deciding to place a bet based on these factors, it's important to consider a couple of things:

The women’s tournament often gets overshadowed by the men’s tournament, but that wasn’t the case in 2024 when the women’s title game had higher viewership numbers than the men’s game.
Just because something has never happened or rarely happens does not mean it can’t happen.

Women's March Madness Format

The NCAA did not start hosting a women’s basketball tournament until the 1981-82 season with 32 teams involved. Louisiana Tech played Cheyney State in the championship game and won.

On the roster was a name that would become legendary as a head coach, Kim Mulkey. Mulkey is still the only woman to win a championship as a player and head coach (Baylor—2005, 2012, and 2019 and LSU—2023).

It wasn't until 1986 that the field expanded to 40 teams (17 conference champions and 23 at-large bids). Fans didn’t have to wait long for another expansion. In 1989, the field went from 40 to 48 (19 conference champions and 29 at-large).

The field finally expanded to 64 teams with the 1994 tournament, with half of the slots going to conference champions and the remaining 32 to at-large teams. Four more teams, the ‘First Four,’ were added in 2022, bringing the field to 68 teams (32 slots went to conference champions and 36 at-large teams).