NCAA Women’s Tournament: Colorado vs. Iowa odds, pick and prediction for 3/30

Colorado vs. Iowa Odds

Saturday, March 30, 3:30 p.m. ET, ABC

Odds via bet365. Get up-to-the-minute NCAAB odds here.

Colorado Buffaloes

Road to the Sweet 16:

• First Round vs. No. 12 seed Drake: W 86-72 (Colorado -9.5 | Over 149.5)
• Second Round vs. No. 4 seed Kansas State: W 63-50 (Colorado +3.5 | Under 134)

Colorado saw two completely different teams in its first two games. The Buffaloes first faced a Drake team that is offensive-minded and gets up a ton of 3s, before playing a Kansas State team that plays a slow, inside-out game with a focus on defense.

Colorado’s offense looked unstoppable against Drake, which simply just didn’t have the bigs to stop center Aaronette Vonleh. The Buffaloes shot 55.4% from the field and knocked down seven 3s, while the Bulldogs shot 51% from the field and were able to get to the free-throw line 19 times.

Against Kansas State, it was a tie game for the majority of the game up until late in the third when Serena Sundell got called for a flagrant foul. After being tied at 39 apiece, Colorado ended the final five minutes of the third quarter on a 13-3 run. Offense died for both teams in the fourth as the score was deadlocked at 52-46 for nearly five minutes. Kansas State just isn’t equipped to play from behind, and Colorado knocked down its free throws to get another chance at taking down Iowa in the Sweet 16.

Iowa Hawkeyes

Road to the Sweet 16:

• First Round vs. No. 16 seed Holy Cross: W 91-65 (Holy Cross +36.5 | Under 157.5)
• Second Round vs. No. 8 seed West Virginia: W 64-54 (West Virginia +14.5 | Under 163.5)

The media’s darling, Caitlin Clark, and the Iowa Hawkeyes have had it anything but easy on their quest to make it to a second straight national championship game.

Clark did shoot a bit better than her past few games and scored 32 points in the win against West Virginia, but it was an all-out war. Iowa’s season low on field goal attempts coming into the game was 59, but the Hawkeyes only totaled 47 against the Mountaineers. Granted, they spent a lot of time at the free-throw line, going 25-for-30 from the stripe. It was also the first game this season in which Clark was the only Hawkeye to make a 3-pointer, with her teammates going 0-for-8 from distance.

Colorado vs. Iowa

Betting Pick & Prediction

When these two teams met in last year's Sweet 16, it was extremely close throughout the first half. Colorado went into halftime with a one-point lead before Iowa exploded for 48 second-half points on its way to a 10-point victory.

A lot of people were upset with the foul and free-throw disparity in Iowa’s game against West Virginia, but the Hawkeyes get that everywhere. They do get a lot of calls, but they also take advantage of teams that play physical defense.

It looks like the trendy pick for Iowa games will be taking the 'dog against the spread and the Under. I’m not sure what type of game plan Colorado coach JR Payne will come up with, but I am confident we won’t see consecutive poor shooting games from Iowa. In the six games following a game in which they scored below 70 points, the Hawkeyes are averaging 101.5 PPG, and the Over is 6-0.

The NCAA Tournament is different, but it feels like Clark and company are due for an explosion. You just have to worry if all the pressure is getting to the superstar and her teammates on this last dance.

Picks:

• Iowa -7.5 (Play to -9) | 1u
• Over 160.5 (Play to 162.5) | 1u