Caitlin Clark is an Underdog in Her WNBA Debut

I won’t pretend to know much about the WNBA, but I was absolutely stunned to learn that Caitlin Clark was an underdog in her professional debut against Connecticut Sun.

Clark’s Indiana Fever are +8.5 against the Sun, who were 27-13 last season. The Fever are +255 to win outright on the moneyline.

Clearly, oddsmakers are telling us that the Sun are the better team. This feels sort of like if the Minnesota Timberwolves opened up the season against the Charlotte Hornets. 

But come on. Are we really going to bet against Clark in her WNBA debut? Not me.

Clark was the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA Draft. She completely changed the landscape of women’s basketball during her last two seasons in college at Iowa. She’s going to bring a ton of fanfare and needed excitement around the WNBA and the Fever, who won just 13 games last season. And we’re supposed to bet against that? I don’t think so.
 

During the Fever’s preseason, Clark lived up to the hype. More than 13,000 fans attended to watch her debut where she put up 21 points. She looked like the player that America fell in love with during Iowa’s back-to-back March Madness runs. She looked like a player that was plenty good enough to compete in the WNBA.

During her time at Iowa, Clark transcended the game of basketball while being a bettor’s dream, winning a ton of games in convincing fashion for her hometown team. She is the NCAA all-time scoring leader and also has the single-season record for three pointers made.

It feels like the stars are aligned for Clark to have continued success in the WNBA, which won’t be easy to do. She’s too skilled to fail. Further, the WNBA will certainly want her to succeed. 

Winning her professional debut as a big underdog would be one hell of a start to what will become a promising career where she will break more records and cash more bets.