NCAA Women’s Basketball Best Picks for Feb. 22: No. 2 UCLA, No. 23 Minnesota, and Notre Dame

Sundays in the fall are all about football. But this time of year, they belong to women’s college basketball.  As you’ll often find, many of the best teams in the country are seeing action on the last day of the weekend, which makes it a great day for an NCAA Women’s Basketball best bets list.

(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

For this post, I’m going to focus on some of the games scheduled later in the day, i.e., No. 2 UCLA, No. 18 Michigan State, and No. 23 Minnesota. I’ll include Notre Dame in this grouping as well since the Fighting Irish have one of the best guards in the country, Hannah Hidalgo.

NCAA Women's Basketball Best Bets for Sunday, Feb. 22 (FanDuel)

Wisconsin vs. No. 2 UCLA

• NCAA Women's Basketball Pick: UCLA -35.5 at -114 (FanDuel)

To say the No. 2 UCLA Bruins are coming in hot may be an understatement. The Bruins are undefeated in Big Ten play and have dropped just one game this season, an early contest vs. No. 4 Texas, 76-65. So, heading into this game vs. the Badgers, they’ll take a 20-game winning streak.

That’s a lot of momentum.

As for Wisconsin, the Badgers have not been terrible on offense (69.4 points per game, No. 125 in the nation), but they struggle on defense (72.3 points allowed per game, No. 322). They will not be able to contain Bruins senior center Lauren Betts on UCLA’s Senior Day. Look for Betts to lead UCLA to a massive win, covering this spread.

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No. 18 Michigan State vs. No. 23 Minnesota

Neither team is in danger of missing the NCAA Tournament, but how they perform down the stretch will determine their seeding heading into the upcoming conference tournament. So, while the big picture may not be impacted by the outcome, the immediate one will be.

Both teams are 21-6 overall, which suggests a competitive game, but the Gophers have an edge in Big Ten play (12-4 to 10-6 for the Spartans). But Minnesota comes in playing better, having won its last nine in a row, including two vs. ranked teams (No. 10 Ohio State and No. 10 Iowa).

Michigan State, on the other hand, has hit a rough patch with losses in four of its last six games. But all four were to ranked teams (No. 9 Michigan, No. 22 Maryland, No. 2 UCLA, and No. 7 Michigan).

• NCAA Women's Basketball Pick: Minnesota -6.5 at -114 (FanDuel)

Michigan State deserves credit for playing a tough schedule and being competitive in many of the losses against ranked teams. It would be easy to make a case for them to keep it close, as they have played well on the road.

However, Minnesota has been a great home team (13-2), and I like their combination of offense (76.1 points per game, No. 41 in the country) and defense (56.7 points per game allowed, No. 20) to win the day against a Spartans team that is reliant on its offense (84.4 points per game, No. 10).

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Notre Dame vs. SMU

• NCAA Women's Basketball Pick: Notre Dame -26.5 at -114 (FanDuel)

After going 26-5 last season, the Fighting Irish haven’t really lived up to expectations this season. But Notre Dame still has a talented squad led by one of (if not the) best guards in the country in Hannah Hidalgo (24.7 points per game).  Consistency has been an issue for the Fighting Irish this year, but things may be coming together for them at the right time.

With a 78-54 win over Wake Forest in their last game (Feb. 19), they improved to 17-9, 9-6 in the ACC, with wins in four of five games in February. For the season, they’ve averaged 79 points per game (No. 23 in the nation), but have not been as good on defense (65.7 points allowed per game, No. 215).

As for SMU, the Mustangs have been struggling for much of the season. They started the year 1-5 and have had three losing streaks of 5+ games. With Thursday’s (Feb. 19) loss to Boston College at home, they’ve lost seven of their last eight.

Notre Dame should lead this game wire-to-wire and easily cover the spread.