The West Virginia Mountaineers take on the Iowa Hawkeyes and Caitlin Clark. Check out our Women's March Madness odds series for our West Virginia Iowa prediction and pick. Find how to watch West Virginia Iowa and Caitlin Clark.
This is it.
This is the final home game for Caitlin Clark in Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. A decorated career is in its final stretch, but Clark wants to make this her last home game in college, not her last college game overall. It's an emotionally tricky situation for a college basketball legend. The feelings Clark will feel will be intense and run very deep, but Clark has to carry those feelings in a contained way while focusing on the ultimate goal: winning a game and advancing to the Sweet 16. Iowa is trying to return to the Women's Final Four and the national championship game. The Hawkeyes, should they win here against West Virginia in the second round, would potentially face Colorado in the Sweet 16, just as they did last year in the NCAA Tournament. Iowa would then potentially face LSU — the defending national champion, the team which beat the Hawkeyes in last year's national championship game — in the Elite Eight. Iowa might not want to play LSU, but it definitely wants to be in the Elite Eight, playing for that chance at the Final Four. Neutral college basketball fans — not to mention ESPN executives — dearly want that Iowa-LSU matchup to happen. If it does, Caitlin Clark would have a chance to avenge the title game loss to Angel Reese and LSU. Getting past West Virginia, though, is a first step on that road to a possible date with destiny … and Kim Mulkey's Tigers.
Caitlin Clark has to keep her eyes on the prize, and let the emotional celebration of her last home game wait until after Iowa has won and advanced to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
Here are the West Virginia-Iowa Women's March Madness odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
Women's March Madness Odds: West Virginia-Iowa Odds
West Virginia Mountaineers: +15.5 (-106)
Iowa Hawkeyes: -15.5 (-125)
Over: 163.5 (-114)
Under: 163.5 (-114)
How To Watch West Virginia vs Iowa
Time: 8:00 pm ET / 5:00 pm PT
TV: ESPN
Stream: fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why West Virginia Could Cover the Spread
The Iowa Hawkeyes obviously want to win, but they will be caught up in the national media frenzy about Caitlin Clark playing her last home game in Iowa City. It's a powerful and pervasive distraction, and it will test Iowa's focus. The Hawkeyes are very likely to win the game, but they are hardly likely to run away with this, especially against a good West Virginia team which beat a solid opponent — Princeton — in round one on Saturday. Iowa coach Lisa Bluder has said that West Virginia has played and performed better than its NCAA Tournament seed of No. 8. If West Virginia plays 20 really solid minutes, maybe 25, that could be enough to offset any large Iowa run and keep the final margin of this game below 16 points, which is all WVU needs to cover the spread.
Why Iowa Could Cover the Spread
This game will be emotional for Iowa, and that could be a distraction, but there's another way to read this game: Iowa will be so full of excitement and passion — wanting to make the moment count — that it will come zooming out of the locker room with energy and focus and clarity. Iowa could play its best game, in which case it will absolutely blow the doors off this game.
Final West Virginia-Iowa Prediction & Pick
The Hawkeyes face an opponent which plays tough defense and won't make things easy. Iowa very likely wins, but this is a large spread. Take West Virginia against that spread.
Final West Virginia-Iowa Prediction & Pick: West Virginia +15.5
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