Two of the biggest stars in all of college basketball will share a court on Friday as Caitlin Clark of No. 1 Iowa takes on Paige Bueckers of 3-seeded UConn. Their teams will clash in a 2024 Women's Final Four matchup in a rare meeting of AP Players of the Year. Bueckers won the award as a freshman in 2021, while Clark won the award both this season and last. The Women's Final Four 2024 marks the 23rd all-time appearance for UConn's program, while Iowa is here for the third time.
Tipoff is set for 9 p.m. ET from Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland. The latest Iowa vs. UConn odds have the Hawkeyes as 4-point favorites, while the over/under is 163. Before making any Iowa vs. UConn picks or Final Four predictions, you have to see what women's basketball expert Calvin Wetzel has to say.
Wetzel, HerHoopStats.com lead betting writer, incorporates his mathematical background and strong knowledge of women's hoops to turn the site's prediction model into picks. Now Wetzel has turned his attention to women's college basketball after teaming up with Aaron Barzilai, a Ph.D. from Stanford. Since the start of the 2021-22 women's college basketball campaign, he is 1384-988 (+371.33 units). Wetzel also predicted 66 of 68 tournament teams this year, as well as 62 of 68 teams within one seed line, and correctly picked 13 of 16 second-round games. Anybody following his picks has seen huge results.
Now, he has set his sights on Iowa vs. Connecticut and made his picks and predictions. You can visit SportsLine now to see his picks. Here are several college basketball odds and trends for Connecticut vs. Iowa:
- UConn vs. Iowa spread: Hawkeyes -4
- UConn vs. Iowa over/under: 163 points
- UConn vs. Iowa money line: Hawkeyes -165, Huskies +140
- IOWA: The Hawkeyes shoot 37.8% from 3-point range
- CONN: The Huskies average 19.7 assists per game
- UConn vs. Iowa picks: See picks at SportsLine
Why UConn can cover
These programs have a recent history as they met in the 2021 NCAA Tournament and again just last season. UConn prevailed both times, with each coming on a neutral site, and that includes Connecticut's victory last season, which came when Bueckers was sidelined. For all of the attention that Clark gets for her shooting prowess, Bueckers is more efficient with better percentages this year on both field goals and 3-point attempts. Bueckers is also the better defensive player as she led the Big East in total steals while ranking second in total blocks.
The Huskies have the fifth-best assist-to-turnover ratio in all of Division I. They also hold opponents to just 35.4% from the field -- which is seventh-best in the nation -- while Iowa struggles on that end of the court. The Hawkeyes give up 71.5 points per game, which ranks 322nd (out of 360 teams) in the country. Given that UConn's offense ranks in the top seven nationally in both field goal percentage and offensive rating, it could be able to dice up a vulnerable Hawkeyes defense. See which team to pick here.
Why Iowa can cover
Clark has exceptional shooting range to space the floor. She is the all-time scoring leader in Division I college basketball history (3,900 points) and ranks third in assists (1,132). The Iowa native led the nation in both points (32) and assists (9) during the 2023-24 season. She has dropped at least 29 points in three straight matchups. In her last outing, Clark had 41 points, seven rebounds and 12 assists.
Senior guard Kate Martin has stepped up in the NCAA Tournament for the Hawkeyes. Martin is doing a tremendous job attacking the lane and drawing contact at the rim. She logs 13.1 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. Martin has scored 14-plus points in three of his last four outings. See which team to pick here.
How to make UConn vs. Iowa picks
Wetzel has analyzed this matchup and he is leaning Under on the point total, while discovering a critical X-factor that has him jumping all over one side of the spread. He's sharing what it is at SportsLine.
Who wins Iowa vs. UConn, and what critical x-factor makes one side of the spread hit hard? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of the spread hits, all from the expert who's up 371 units since the start of the 2021-22 season, and find out.
