The 2022 Women's NCAA Tournament takes center stage with two Final Four spots set to be filled on Monday night.
No. 2 UConn meets No. 1 NC State in the first game of the night, tipping off at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN. No. 3 Michigan vs. No. 1 Louisville follow at 9 p.m. ET.
A vast majority of bettors are expecting the favorites to move on in convincing fashion.
Despite being the lower seed, UConn is a 4-point favorite against NC State. A lot of that has to do with the return of star guard Paige Bueckers.
Connecticut lost five games on the year, but four were without Bueckers, who missed 19 games with a knee injury. The team is 13-1 when she plays. The seeds might be flipped had Bueckers stayed healthy.
It's virtually a home game for Geno Auriemma's team with the matchup taking place at Total Mortgage Arena in Bridgeport, CT.
All of those factors are enough for the public to hammer the favorites. At Caesars, 79% of bets are on the Huskies to cover the spread. It's about the same at BetMGM, where 80% of tickets are on UConn, moving the line from 3.5 to 4.5.
"This should be the highest-bet Elite Eight game for the women's tournament," Caesars Assistant Director of Trading Adam Pullen said.
The interest is even more lopsided for the second game of the night between Louisville and Michigan. Louisville is up to a 5.5-point favorite from the opening line of 4.5. That hasn't slowed down the action.
Over 90% of the handle at both BetMGM and Caesars is on Louisville to cover the spread against Michigan. Michigan is the lowest seed remaining, and suffered a blowout loss to Louisville in the regular season, 70-48.
The winner of Louisville-Michigan will advance to meet No. 1 overall seed South Carolina in the Final Four. The UConn-NC State winner gets a game with Stanford on April 1.
