NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament 2025 Odds, Picks for Sweet 16 Bracket
All four of the No. 1 seeds in the NCAA women's tournament are favored in the Sweet 16.
However, there is one massive difference between the USC Trojans and the others.
USC is only a 1.5-point favorite against the Kansas State Wildcats without JuJu Watkins.
The Trojans are obviously the most vulnerable of the No. 1 seeds, and while their hopes of winning the NCAA tournament are diminished, they can still win a game or two more without their superstar.
The Texas Longhorns, South Carolina Gamecocks and UConn Huskies are all favored by 7.5 points or more. South Carolina and UConn are double-digit favorites.
A pair of No. 3 seeds are favored, and by a decent amount as well. Dynamic guard play could lead those squads to a spread cover as a favorite.
Sweet 16 Schedule and Odds
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.
Friday, March 28
No. 3 North Carolina vs. No. 2 Duke (-5.5) (2:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
No. 4 Maryland vs. No. 1 South Carolina (-17.5) (5 p.m. ET, ESPN)
No. 3 LSU (-3.5) vs. No. 2 NC State (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
No. 5 Ole Miss vs. No. 1 UCLA (-8.5) (10 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Saturday, March 29
No. 3 Notre Dame (-6.5) vs. No. 2 TCU (1 p.m. ET, ABC)
No. 5 Tennessee vs. No. 1 Texas (-7.5) (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC)
No. 3 Oklahoma vs. No. 2 UConn (-15.5) (5:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
No. 5 Kansas State vs. No. 1 USC (-1.5) (8 p.m. ET, ESPN)
No. 5 Kansas State vs. No. 1 USC (-1.5)
The final Sweet 16 contest is possibly the most fascinating because of the situation facing USC.
The Trojans lost superstar JuJu Watkins in the second round win over the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
USC won that game easily, 96-59, and it has had a week to prepare for the matchup with Kansas State.
Watkins' absence diminishes USC's title chances, but the Trojans are still capable of advancing to the Final Four, especially if Kiki Iriafen plays like she did in the second round.
Iriafen posted 36 points and nine rebounds in the second round. She also had two 20-point double-doubles in the Big Ten tournament.
The supporting cast around Iriafen needs to score more as well, but if the Trojans get a few players in double digits, like they did against Mississippi State, they can weather the challenge posed by Kansas State, a team that lost its last four games against ranked opposition.
No. 3 Notre Dame vs. No. 2 TCU ( 6.5)
The TCU Horned Frogs have five more wins and are the better seed compared to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, but they are a significant underdog on Saturday.
Additionally, the Horned Frogs beat Notre Dame by eight points back in November.
The star guards of each team, TCU's Hailey Van Lith and Notre Dame's Hannah Hidalgo, both eclipsed the 20-point mark in the nonconference meeting.
Van Lith and Hidalgo are expected to have massive games again in Birmingham.
Van Lith has seven 20-point performances in her NCAA tournament career. She is on a bit of a redemption tour after failing to score in double digits in any NCAA tournament game last season with LSU.
Hidalgo put up 45 points in the first two rounds and she's been over 20 points in five straight games.
Each team has strong secondary scoring as well. For TCU, that comes from center Sedona Prince, who averages 17.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game.
Olivia Miles and Sonia Citron both average over 14 points per game for Notre Dame.
TCU already proved it has the talent to play with Notre Dame once this season, and with a motivated Van Lith at the helm, the Horned Frogs should stay close enough to cover the 6.5-point spread.
No. 3 LSU (-3.5) vs. No. 2 NC State
The other No. 3 seed favored on the point spread could have a much easier time int he Sweet 16.
The LSU Tigers eclipsed the 100-point mark twice and won by a combined 85 points in the first two rounds.
The NC State Wolfpack will provide a tougher challenge to LSU than its first two opponents, but with the way the LSU offense is rolling, the Tigers will be hard to stop.
LSU scored 100 points in three of the last four games and it has three players who average over 17 points per game, led by Flau'jae Johnson.
NC State possesses a dynamic scoring attack as well, led by Aziaha James, but if LSU scores at the rate it did in the first weekend, it will difficult for any team to keep up with.
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