No 2026-27 women’s national championship odds are posted yet. ESPN’s futures board had no women’s college basketball market of any kind when we read it on September 24, 2026, so this page lists no prices until one appears.
UCLA is the defending champion. The Bruins beat South Carolina 79-51 in Phoenix on April 5, 2026, finished 37-1, and did it as the underdog.
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Where the 2027 market stands
ESPN’s women’s futures board returns nothing for 2026-27, and nothing for 2025-26 either. That leaves the top sports betting sites as the place to look when a board opens, and this page will carry the prices once ESPN lists them.
The season arrives before the market does. On ESPN’s calendar the 2026-27 regular season starts November 1, when Notre Dame and Villanova play at noon ET at the Palazzo dello Sport in Rome. November 2 has 112 Division I women’s games on ESPN’s schedule, among them South Carolina against Maryland at noon ET at the Adidas Arena in Paris.
The other contenders open at home that day. UCLA hosts Lehigh at Pauley Pavilion, UConn hosts Cornell in Hartford and LSU hosts SE Louisiana, all with times still to be set.
How UCLA won the 2026 title
The 2026 Final Four was played at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix. On April 3, South Carolina beat UConn 62-48 and UCLA beat Texas 51-44.
The final was not close after the first quarter. UCLA led 21-10 after ten minutes, 36-23 at halftime and 61-32 after three quarters. Gabriela Jaquez scored 21 points with five assists, and Lauren Betts had 11 rebounds. For South Carolina, Tessa Johnson scored 14 and Joyce Edwards had 11 rebounds.
The line had it the other way. DraftKings listed South Carolina -4.5 and UCLA +170 on the moneyline, as ESPN shows it. UCLA won by 28, and the 130 points scored went over the 127.5 total.
What the last 13 tournaments say
UConn and South Carolina have won eight of the last 13 titles between them: UConn five and South Carolina three. South Carolina has also played in the last three title games, winning in 2024 and losing in 2025 and 2026.
That is the benchmark to hold the first prices against. Eight titles in 13 tournaments is about 62%. If the combined implied chance of UConn and South Carolina opens well above that, the market is leaning on history harder than history does, and the value sits with the rest of the field, UCLA included.
UCLA is the first champion outside those two programs since LSU in 2023. Before that, Stanford won in 2021, Baylor in 2019 and Notre Dame in 2018.
Recent women’s national champions
| Year | Champion | Record | Score | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | UCLA | 37-1 | 79-51 | South Carolina |
| 2025 | UConn | 37-3 | 82-59 | South Carolina |
| 2024 | South Carolina | 38-0 | 87-75 | Iowa |
| 2023 | LSU | 34-2 | 102-85 | Iowa |
| 2022 | South Carolina | 35-2 | 64-49 | UConn |
| 2021 | Stanford | 31-2 | 54-53 | Arizona |
| 2019 | Baylor | 37-1 | 82-81 | Notre Dame |
| 2018 | Notre Dame | 35-3 | 61-58 | Mississippi State |
| 2017 | South Carolina | 33-4 | 67-55 | Mississippi State |
| 2016 | UConn | 38-0 | 82-51 | Syracuse |
| 2015 | UConn | 38-1 | 63-53 | Notre Dame |
| 2014 | UConn | 40-0 | 79-58 | Notre Dame |
| 2013 | UConn | 35-4 | 93-60 | Louisville |
The 2020 tournament was not played. Three champions in this list finished unbeaten: UConn in 2014 and 2016, and South Carolina in 2024.
Before the board opens
Futures pay best before the season sorts the field, and the season starts November 1. When the board opens, compare books first: a longshot quoted at two different prices is worth the difference.
Once the 112-game slate of November 2 is played, our Women’s College Basketball coverage carries the game-by-game view, and our list of the best handicappers is the place to start for paid plays.