7 first-round upsets Las Vegas thinks you should include in your women's March Madness bracket
Meredith Cash
- March Madness is finally back, and time is winding down for fans to build their brackets.
- When looking for an upset, it can be helpful to look to Las Vegas bookmakers for guidance.
The 2023 NCAA Tournament is nearly here.
With tip-off just days away, college basketball fans are furiously filling out their brackets in pursuit of a perfect slate of picks. And while that's an impossible — and unprecedented — standard, most of us just want to avoid looking foolish with our selections.
Looking to the bookmakers who determine the spreads of each game is often a smart and simple way to make informed bracket decisions. Using DraftKings' odds, Insider picked the first-round games in the women's tournament that Las Vegas thinks are most likely to end in upsets.
Check 'em out below:
No. 12 Florida Gulf Coast over No. 5 Washington State
Florida Gulf Coast has a penchant for breaking brackets on both the men's and women's sides of the NCAA Tournament. And this year, the 12th-seeded Eagles are poised to do it again. They're 3.5-point favorites to take down the No. 5 Washington State Cougars on Saturday.
No. 10 Alabama over No. 7 Baylor
Baylor may have long been a perennial Final Four team, but Alabama is the team to beat in this first-round matchup out of Storrs, Connecticut. The Crimson Tide are 1.5-point favorites to take down the Bears Saturday evening. If they manage to defy their seeding, they'll likely score a date with the fearsome UConn Huskies.
No. 11 UNLV over No. 6 Michigan
The Lady Rebels haven't lost a game in 2023, making them one of the hottest teams heading into the tournament. No. 11 UNLV is only a two-point underdog to the sixth-seeded Michigan Wolverines, so if you're willing to take a gamble, this is a promising upset.
No. 9 South Dakota State over No. 8 USC
Though their respective seeds suggest the Jackrabbits should be slight underdogs against Southern California, South Dakota State is actually favored by a whopping 6.5 points against the Trojans. Mid-major fans have every incentive to pick the upset in Blacksburg, Virginia, Friday night.
No. 9 Gonzaga over No. 8 Ole Miss
Another 8-9 matchup is leaning in the underdog's favor, according to the spreads out of Las Vegas. Even though No. 9 Gonzaga lost the West Coast Conference Tournament championship game in a shock upset to the Portland Pilots, the Bulldogs are one-point favorites against the 8-seed Ole Miss Rebels. This one is as close to a toss-up as it gets.
No. 10 Georgia over No. 7 Florida State
Though Florida State is sitting three seeds higher than Georgia, the Seminoles are just 1.5-point favorites to beat the Bulldogs in Iowa City on Friday. Las Vegas seems to think this one could come down to a missed layup or a handful of free throws, so if you can stomach a bit of risk, go with the Dawgs.
No. 11 Middle Tennessee over No. 6 Colorado
The Blue Raiders have lost just four games all season, and they have no plans to take another L now. Vegas favors No. 11 Middle Tennessee by three points over sixth-seeded Colorado in one of the more promising upset picks of the opening round.
Need a final championship score for your March Madness bracket? Our formula found the average score over the past 34 NCAA women's title games:
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