Iowa vs South Carolina: Sportsbooks reveal early action on women's national championship game
Iowa is looking to hand South Carolina its first defeat of the 2023-24 season. In a battle of No. 1 seeds, the Hawkeyes and the Gamecocks face off Sunday (3 p.m. ET, ABC) for the Women’s NCAA Tournament national championship.
South Carolina opened as a 5.5-point favorite at BetMGM. Early Saturday, the spread changed to 6.5 points.
In data shared with Saturday Tradition, the spread split is a close 51/49 Iowa at BetMGM. South Carolina -6.5, however, has an 82/18 split of the handle (money bet). Both spread options are priced at -110 for a $110 bet to win $100.
- Iowa +6.5 (-110 at BetMGM): 51% bets, 18% handle
- South Carolina -6.5 (-110 at BetMGM): 49% bets, 82% handle
BetMGM opened the Iowa moneyline pricing at +200. It is now +220, meaning a Hawkeye upset would turn a $100 bet into a $320 payout.
South Carolina moneyline opened at -250 and has moved to -275. It would take a $275 wager at BetMGM to win $100 on a Gamecock victory straight up.
Iowa is the popular pick on the moneyline, getting 86% of bets for 72% of the handle.
- Iowa to win (+220 at BetMGM): 86% bets, 72% handle
- South Carolina to win (-275 at BetMGM): 14% bets, 28% handle
BetMGM set the opening point total at 160.5 points. The over/under has moved down to 159.5 points. The over is priced at -105, while the under is set at -115. Saturday’s action showed bettors are liking the under.
- Over 159.5 points (-105 at BetMGM): 41% bets, 43% handle
- Under 159.5 points (-115 at BetMGM): 59% bets, 57% handle
“Early action is on Caitlin Clark and Iowa to upset South Carolina in the National Championship game,” BetMGM Director of Trading Matt Cosgriff said. “Iowa has been the sportsbook’s biggest liability all season on the futures market. South Carolina winning would be a positive result for BetMGM.”
Betting data revealed that 33.7% of futures tickets for 31.1% of the handle are on Iowa. South Carolina was the next most popular bet with 11.4% of tickets for 30.7% of the handle. UConn, which was eliminated Friday night, had 9.8% of the futures bets. LSU’s bid to repeat as national champion accounted for 10.3% of the futures handle.
BetMGM offered a look at how South Carolina and Iowa’s futures odds have changed throughout the Women’s NCAA Tournament.
- South Carolina
- Open +290
- Round 64 -135
- Sweet 16 -155
- Final Four -200
- Championship -250
- Iowa
- Open +600
- Round 64 +600
- Sweet 16 +600
- Final Four +300
- Championship +220
Final Four games smash women’s betting records, lead Friday action
The Iowa-South Carolina matchup was set up by Friday’s Final Four action. Iowa-UConn generated record-breaking action for FanDuel Sportsbook.
FanDuel revealed Saturday that the Iowa-UConn women’s Final Four game was the biggest women’s single betting event of all time on FanDuel, breaking the handle record set by Monday night’s Iowa-LSU game by 62%.
Iowa-UConn was the No. 1 betting event on FanDuel Friday, ahead of all NBA, MLB and NHL games. NC State v. South Carolina was the fifth highest of the day.
The Women’s Final Four games on FanDuel garnered a 296% increase in combined handle and 323% increase in combined bet count over the 2023 Final Four games.
For Sunday, FanDuel shares that Iowa is the popular moneyline bet. FanDuel Sportsbook has Iowa moneyline currently priced at +225 for a $100 bet to produce a $325 payout with a Hawkeye win. South Carolina is -290 on the moneyline, meaning a $290 bet would be needed for a $100 win.
- Iowa to win (+225 at FanDuel): 89% bets, 80% handle
- South Carolina to win (-290 at FanDuel): 11% bets, 20% handle
South Carolina bettors are showing more confidence in the Gamecocks covering the spread for preferable pricing. Both options on the 6.5-point spread are priced at -110.
- Iowa +6.5 (-110 at FanDuel): 46% bets, 38% handle
- South Carolina -6.5 (-110 at FanDuel): 54% bets, 62% handle
