Still Great Value - TCU Women’s Hoops

TCU’s women are still operating in that beautiful sweet spot: elite on the floor, underpriced in the conversation. And if you’re a serious hoops mind — or a serious bettor — that combination should light up your radar.

Start with Mark Campbell. The broader public still talks about brands, recruiting classes, and blueblood inertia, but coaching is the great multiplier in women’s basketball, and Campbell is on the verge of being recognized as one of the sport’s sharpest architects. His teams aren’t just “talented.” They’re constructed: spacing with purpose, defensive rotations that arrive on time, and an execution culture that turns athleticism into reliability. That’s what separates “good stories” from legitimate contenders.

The masterstroke, of course, was Olivia Miles landing in Fort Worth. Miles already carried WNBA-level cachet, but a season in Campbell’s structure accelerates the part that matters most at the next level: readiness. Pace control. Decision economy. Dictating matchups. Guarding with intent. It’s one thing to have highlights; it’s another thing to run a team like a professional. Campbell’s system forces that evolution — and it’s why Miles looks like she’s not just building a résumé, but building a postseason temperament.

Miles is the headliner, but Marta Suarez deserves her own spotlight as well. The 6’3” senior from Spain has taken her game to another level in Campbell’s system, playing with the kind of composure, physicality, and two-way presence that defines top-tier players nationally. She’s the kind of piece that turns a great guard-led team into a complete team — a veteran stabilizer who can impact winning without needing the offense to revolve around her.

And TCU’s edge doesn’t begin and end with those two. The Frogs are big, long, and athletic, with a defensive identity that travels. They can switch, they can protect the rim, and they can turn opponents’ comfort into hesitation — which is the first step toward a bad shot diet. Offensively, they’re not reliant on one trick: they can play through space, through movement, through execution, and they’ve got multiple shooters who punish lazy help.

From a market perspective, this is the point: TCU is still being priced like a “nice story” instead of a true threat.You’ll see the usual suspects respected at the top — Texas, South Carolina, UCLA, LSU — and you’ll see UConn sitting as the clear odds-on favorite in heavy minus-money territory. And fair enough: barring injury, the Huskies can separate from anyone. But the value question is real. When a team is priced like inevitability, you’re no longer betting basketball — you’re betting health, variance, and the randomness of a six-game tournament.

That’s why TCU is so intriguing at prices as long as 40/1. No, it’s probably not a “win the whole thing” ticket. But it’s a positioning ticket — a way to buy optionality. If TCU earns a No. 1 seed, or starts stacking signature wins in the Big 12, that number will collapse. And once you’re holding a ticket at an obsolete price, you’re no longer guessing — you’re managing leverage.

There are real concerns. Depth can be an issue when only six players are carrying serious minutes, and that matters in March when foul trouble and fatigue don’t ask permission. But five of those six can shoot the three ball with confidence, and Campbell is brilliant at manufacturing clean looks while demanding precision on the other end.

TCU is the golden value because they’re still being treated like a surprise — even while they’re building the profile of a team that can match up with anyone, including UConn. And in futures betting, being early isn’t about being right — it’s about being ahead of the market.