Top 10 women's basketball teams to win the National Championship

It would be very easy for Casino City to pick South Carolina as the top D1 Women’s Basketball team heading into the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament, but we like to gamble, so we’re not going chalk.

Sure, the Gamecocks are undefeated at 32-0 following their Southeastern Conference Tournament championship over the weekend, but a team hasn’t won back-to-back titles since UConn won four in a row between 2013-2016, and this isn’t going to be the year it happens again.

The women will find out their fate Sunday night, 12 March, when the Selection Committee announces the team seedings for March Madness. The first and second rounds will take place between 17-20 March. It should be noted that for the first time ever, instead of all of the women’s teams being split into four regions for the Regionals, there will only be two sites: Greenville, South Carolina and Seattle, Washington. The Final Four will be played at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, on Friday and Sunday, 31 March and 2 April.

Without further ado, here’s Casino City’s Top 10 NCAA Women’s hoops teams heading into March Madness.

10. Virginia Tech
Junior guard Georgia Amoore and 6’6” senior center Elizabeth Kitley led the way for the Hokies as they took home the ACC Championship with a 75-67 victory over Louisville. Amoore poured in 25 points and four assists, while Kitley added 20 points in the conference title game.

For the season, Amoore leads the team with 5.3 assists, while Kitley leads the team with 18.5 points and a team-leading 56.4% from the field.

Including the Atlantic Coast tourney, eighth ranked Virginia Tech (27-4, 14-4), which finished second in the conference, heads into the Big Dance with a 6-2 record against Top 25 teams.

bet365 Sportsbook & Racebook odds to cut down the nets in Dallas: +4000

Tell a friend to tell a friend, we need ?? packed ?? pic.twitter.com/QbVoOqetcL
— Virginia Tech Women's Basketball (@HokiesWBB) March 6, 2023

9. Maryland
Senior guards 6’3” guard Diamond Miller and 6’0” Abby Myers both scored 21 points in the Terrapins’ 89-84 Big Ten Conference semifinal loss to Iowa.

Miller leads the team with 19.7 points per game.

Including the Big Ten Tournament, fifth ranked Maryland (25-6, 15-3), who finished in second place in the conference, goes into March Madness with a 6-4 record against Top 25 teams. The Terrapins are +3300 to win the title.

8. LSU
Angle Reese, the 6’3” sophomore forward, and senior guard Alex Morris scored 22 and 20 points respectively, but it wasn’t enough to hold off a 69-67 upset to Tennessee in the Southeastern Conference Tournament semifinals, despite leading 40-26 at the half.

Reese is the Tigers’ leading field-goal percentage shooter and scorer as she shoots 54% from the field while averaging 23.4 points per game. Morris leads the team in assists with 4.2 per game.

Including the SEC Tournament, fourth ranked LSU (28-2, 15-1), which finished second in the conference, goes into the NCAA tourney with a 1-1 record against Top 25 teams.

bet365 odds to cut down the nets in Dallas: +1800

7. Notre Dame
Sophomore guard Sonia Citron standing at 6’1” and 6’3” junior forward Maddy Westbeld could only manage eight and nine points in the Fighting Irish’s 64-38 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament semifinal loss to Louisville as the sluggish Notre Dame offense scored 15 points in the first half.

Despite finishing the season atop the conference, the Fighting Irish were without all-ACC First Team selection sophomore guard Olivia Miles, who injured her knee in the season finale against Louisville. Miles leads the team with 14.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 2.1 steals per game. Her status for the rest of the season is up in the air pending further evaluation.

Including the Atlantic Coast tourney, 10th ranked Notre Dame (25-5, 15-3), which finished first in the conference, heads into the Big Dance with a 3-4 record against Top 25 teams. The Fighting Irish is +5000 to be the last team standing.

6. Utah
After upsetting third-ranked Stanford, 5’11” sophomore guard Gianna Kneepkens and 6’2” junior forward Alissa Pili could only muster 18 and 11 points, respectively, in the Utes’ 66-58 Pac 12 Tournament quarterfinal loss to Washington State.

Pili is Utah’s leading field-goal percentage shooter and scorer as she shoots 58.5% from the field while averaging 20.3 points per game.

Including the Pac 12 tournament, third ranked Utah (25-4, 15-3), which finished the regular season atop the conference, enters March Madness with a 4-2 record against Top 25 teams.

bet365 odds to cut down the nets in Dallas: +4000

5. South Carolina
Seniors 5’9” guard Zia Cooke and 6’5” Aliya Boston led the way for the aforementioned Gamecocks as they cruised to a 74-58 victory in the South Eastern Conference Tournament final.

Cooke is South Carolina’s leading scorer with 15 points per game, while Boston leads the team in field goal percentage with 56.9%.

Including the SEC tourney, the undefeated Gamecocks (32-0, 16-0), who finished the regular season atop the conference, enter the Big Dance with a 5-0 record against Top 25 teams. South Carolina is by the far the favorite to win it all with -150 odds.

4. UConn
Junior forward 6’3” Aaliyah Edwards led the way with 20 points and senior forwards 6’5” Dorka Juhasz and Lou Lopez Senechal each chipped in 14 points in the Huskies’ 81-52 Big East Tournament semifinal win over Marquette.

Edwards is UConn’s leading field-goal percentage shooter and scorer as she shoots 57% from the field while averaging 16.4 points per game.

However, it’s the return of five-foot, 11-inch sophomore guard and last season’s top recruit Azzi Fudd’s return from a knee injury in the Big East quarterfinals that might prove the difference in March Madness.

Heading into tonight’s Big East Tournament final against 11th ranked Villanova the Huskies (28-5, 18-2), who finished atop the conference, will enter the Big Dance with a 6-3 record against Top 25 teams. UCONN only lost to South Carolina, 81-77, earlier this season.

bet365 odds to cut down the nets in Dallas: +750

Aaliyah Edwards has taken it to another level in the postseason

- 20 points, 12 rebounds vs. Marquette
- 19.5 points, 12.5 rebounds per game in the BIG EAST Tournament pic.twitter.com/JnknTHPTe9
— UConn Women’s Basketball (@UConnWBB) March 6, 2023

3. Iowa
All-American 6’0” junior guard Caitlin Clark left nothing to chance as she recorded a triple-double with 30 points, 17 assists and 10 rebounds in the Hawkeyes’ 105-72 Big Ten Tournament final victory over Ohio State.

Clark leads the way for Iowa in points and assists with 26.9 and 8.1.

Including the Big Ten tourney, the seventh ranked Hawkeyes (26-6, 15-3), who finished the regular season in second place in the conference, enter the March Madness tournament with a 7-4 record against Top 25 teams, including three in the past four games with one of those victories an 86-85 win over second ranked Indiana to finish the regular season. Iowa is +3300 to climb the ladder after the final buzzer.

2. Indiana
Senior 6’0” senior guard Grace Berger and 6’3” forward Mackenzie Holmes gave it their all with 20 and 12 points, respectively, but it wasn’t enough in the Hoosiers’ 79-75 loss to 14th ranked Ohio State in the Big Ten Tournament semifinal game.

Holmes is Indiana’s leading field-goal percentage shooter and scorer as she shoots 68.8% from the field while averaging 22.3 points per game.

Including the Big Ten tournament, the second ranked Hoosiers (27-3, 16-2), who finished atop the conference, enter the Big Dance with a 9-2 record against Top 25 teams. Indiana defeated Iowa, 87-78, earlier in the regular season, but lost to the Hawkeyes, 86-85, in the final game of the regular season.

bet365 odds to cut down the nets in Dallas: +750

1. Stanford
Junior forward 6’4” Cameron Brink and 6’1” senior guard Haley Jones scored 19 and 15, respectively, in the Cardinal’s 69-65 upset loss to 19th ranked UCLA in the Pac 12 Tournament semifinal game.

Brink is Stanford’s leading field-goal percentage shooter and scorer as she shoots 49% from the field while averaging 14.9 points per game.

Including the Pac 12 Tournament, the Cardinals (28-5, 15-3), who finished the regular season in first place in the conference, enter March Madness with a 10-3 against Top 25 teams. One of Stanford’s losses was a 76-71 defeat to top ranked South Carolina. The Cardinals have the second-best odds at +650 to win the Big Dance.

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— Stanford Women’s Basketball (@StanfordWBB) March 4, 2023