March Madness in Women's College Basketball Highlights

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00:00Browning out our three hours together on this Thursday. Live on the early line on SportsGrid,

00:05I am Ben Stevens. Let's dive even deeper into the month of March and look around conference

00:10tournament action because in women's college basketball, we've got games tipping in just

00:15about five minutes at 11 a.m. Eastern time and that includes the high major level. We are underway

00:22in the ACC, the Big 12, the Big 10, and the SEC tournament. The Big East enters the fold tomorrow

00:30and when you look at those national championship prizes in women's college basketball, you will see

00:36very familiar names at the top. Connecticut is having a great year. Paige Beckers is performing

00:42incredibly well. AZ FUD is healthy and Gina Auriemma's team looks primed to make another

00:48deep run in the Big Dance. They are the favorites at a three to one price. Of course, Don Staley

00:54gets the nod as the best coach currently in women's college basketball plus 334 South Carolina

01:00that has lost a couple of uncharacteristic games by Gamecocks standards this year including seeing

01:05their 57-game win streak in SEC action come to a close but only uncharacteristic because of how

01:11dominant they have been. Who was the team to snap that SEC win streak? It would be the SEC

01:18newcomer in Texas. Third best price at plus 450. Of course, the coin decided the one seed in the

01:24SEC women's tournament. It went to South Carolina. The Longhorns are the two seed. A bunch of rivalry

01:31games now is Big 10 foes between USC and UCLA this year and Juju Watkins delivered for the Trojans

01:37in both. UCLA, I believe, two losses this season in both against USC including in the regular

01:47season finale on Saturday night just a few days ago to make USC the regular season winner in the

01:52Big 10 and the number one seed in that conference tournament in Indianapolis. And as you look at

01:59Notre Dame, Hannah Hidalgo, Olivia Miles, as good as a duo as you will see in college basketball,

02:06a six to one number. Then you have a large drop off to NC State, LSU, Duke, and even a thriving

02:13TCU team where Haley Van Lyft now plays her basketball. Wes Moore, he was the head coach

02:19or is the head coach for NC State named the ACC coach of the year. I do want to just highlight

02:26something though because even with the stardom of Kaitlyn Clark the last few seasons with LSU

02:31on the rise in SEC play as well led by Angel Reese under Kim Mulkey. Oftentimes at this stage

02:38of the season it would still be a very familiar picture two maybe three teams tops that had short

02:45prices five to one or better to win a national championship. Even last year when Kaitlyn Clark

02:50was taking over and setting records on a daily basis who was the minus money favorite to win a

02:54national championship midway through February? South Carolina who ended up winning national

03:00championship in the month of April? Dodge Staley and the Gamecocks. So when you see six of those

03:07teams on a six to one price or better and all six of those teams at six to one or better separated

03:14by just three bucks there is parity in women's college basketball that we have seen carry over

03:19year over year really on display this season. It is going to be a sensational NCAA tournament with a

03:27lot of star power still carrying through in the big dance. I have shared with all of you I have

03:33two bets to win a national championship in women's college hoops at this moment. Texas bet it at a

03:39six to one price that down by a dollar and a half and UCLA as they remain the only unbeaten team but

03:46not booked as the national title favorite their two losses against USC. Don't see Juju Watkins

03:52and the Trojans in the big dance. I still feel great about this Bruins side led by one of the

03:56best bigs in college hoops that would be Lauren Betts. My five to one number though on UCLA now

04:03backed by a buck at plus 600 and I have said Iowa because of Kaitlin Clark. I do just want to make

04:10this point when you look at the Bart Torvik numbers the T-rate numbers the T-rank numbers

04:15that we have seen that you can update throughout the year. Since the start of February Iowa 12th

04:21best team in the country Iowa third best big 10 team only behind UCLA and USC in the big 10 has

04:30some great schools Michigan State ranked Ohio State ranked Maryland ranked really solid teams

04:36right now entering the big 10 tournament so good in the big 10 that Iowa was the 11th seed and is

04:42the 11th seed in conference tournament action began their run in Indianapolis beating Wisconsin

04:48by nearly 30 last night great one late night in Indy 9 p.m. Eastern time the scheduled tip

04:56for Iowa and Michigan State with a berth in a quarterfinal on the line big day of basketball

05:02between the Hawks and the Spartans both in the women's tournament with that quarterfinal berth

05:06at stake and of course an outright big 10 title on the line in Iowa City for Michigan State

05:12men's basketball we'll recap everything on a Friday starting at 8 a.m. Eastern here on The Grid.

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