How to watch Texas women’s basketball vs. Louisville: TV/stream, odds, prediction

In the second round of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship, head coach Vic Schaefer and the four-seed Texas women’s basketball will host the five-seed Louisville Cardinals at the friendly confines of the Moody Center in Austin on March 20. Texas will look to advance to the Sweet 16 for the third year in a row.

Texas comes into this matchup against Louisville in the Round of 32 sporting a record of 26-9 (14-4 Big 12) following a dominant 79-40 win over the 13-seed East Carolina Pirates in the Round of 64 on March 18. The opening-round win for the Longhorns came at home at the Moody Center in Austin.

Meanwhile, Louisville comes into the Round of 32 with a record of 24-11 (12-6 ACC) after a narrow 83-81 win over the 12-seed Drake Bulldogs at the Moody Center on March 18. The Cardinals have also won nine of its last 12 games heading into the second round.

Here’s a look at the betting odds, TV/streaming information, and game prediction as the four-seed Texas gets set to host the five-seed Louisville at the Moody Center in the second round of the Seattle Regional on March 20. The tip-off time for this game is set for 6:00 p.m. CT.

How to watch Texas women’s basketball vs. Louisville

TV: ESPN

Live Stream: WatchESPN app

Radio/Audio Stream: 105.3 FM in Austin

Live stats: Sidearm Stats

For the second game in a row, the Longhorns will have an NCAA Tournament game broadcast on the flagship ESPN network. The ESPN family of networks carried the Big 12 Women’s Tournament a couple of weeks ago and has broadcast the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship thus far.

According to Texassports.com, Eric Frede and Tamika Catchings will call this game between Texas and Louisville on ESPN. Craig Way and Kathy Harston will have the call on the radio broadcast on 105.3 FM Austin.

Texas women’s basketball vs. Louisville: Betting odds for Round of 32

Texas is an eight-point favorite against Louisville and the over/under is set at 130.5 (per DraftKings Sportsbook).

ESPN’s Women’s Bracket Challenge has 64 percent of people picking Texas to beat Louisville in the Round of 32 on March 20.

Texas vs. Louisville prediction

This will be a battle of two of the more proficient offenses in the nation this season. Louisville comes in averaging 73.1 points per game with a solid 101.8 offensive rating, both of which rank in the top 50 in the country.

Meanwhile, Texas is averaging 73.5 points per game this season along with a 103.0 offensive rating, which just edges out Louisville among the top 50 teams in the country this season. Yet, the edge that the Longhorns hold over the Cardinals in this game will come on defense.

Texas boasts a suffocating defense that just held an upstart ECU squad to just 40 points over the weekend. The trio of Taylor Jones, Khadija Faye, and Rori Harmon sees each Longhorns player boast a defensive box plus/minus north of 5.0 on the season.

As a team, Texas has posted a sparkling 79.9 defensive rating, good for 13th in the country. Opponents are shooting just 37.3 percent from the field against the Longhorns this season, which is good for top 50 in the country.

Louisville will face one of its loftiest challenges of the season thus far to try and crack the code that is this rock-solid Texas defense in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

As long as Texas’ offense does its part to keep a comfortable edge compared to this efficient Louisville offense, I like the chances for Harmon and the Longhorns to come out on top. If Texas is able to come out with the win, it will face the eight-seed Ole Miss Rebels in the Sweet 16 on March 25.