Winners Club: Everything You Need to Know Ahead of Super Bowl LVI

All the news to know about the Rams-Bengals Super Bowl, while the Nets-76ers blockbuster trade shakes the NBA landscape.

In case you haven’t heard, there’s a rather large sporting and cultural event taking place Sunday evening. Super Bowl LVI features the Rams facing the Bengals at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif. It’s also, of course, a big day for food, commercials and—most importantly for our purposes—here: betting.

For as long as this matchup has been set, our writers have been preparing you for it—and one of them even made the gut call on the Bengals a few weeks back, something that seemed impossible at the time with the Chiefs in their way.

The Rams are 4-point favorites, playing in their home stadium with a roster built from big-time acquisitions. But as you know by now, there’s much more to bet on in the Super Bowl than simply the winner. Things like color of the Gatorade bath, length of the national anthem (which Jen Piacenti did her own research on) and first song to be played at the halftime show are all available to wager on.

Super Bowl LVI: Rams vs. Bengals

Time: Sunday 6:30 p.m. ET | NBC

Betting Preview and Pick

Morry Gash/AP

For all of the matchups that will decide the game, recent performances and team and player trends, consult Frankie Taddeo’s comprehensive Super Bowl preview. “The questions bettors must answer in this matchup are simple: Can Cincinnati, who is 7-0 ATS over their last seven games, pull the upset for the third consecutive game and deny Matthew Stafford’s quest for a ring?” Taddeo writes.

Two Essential SB Player Prop Parlays: Taddeo explains his reasoning behind a pair of enticing player prop parlays with plus-odds featuring Joe Burrow, Matt Stafford and Cam Akers.

Jae C. Hong/AP

MMQB Staff Predictions: Consult the MMQB crew’s final score, MVP and bold predictions. There’s plenty of steam behind a defensive player taking home MVP honors.

Spread, Total Shift Ahead of Sunday: The Super Bowl spread shifted half a point in the Rams’ favor late this week and the Over/Under dipped as well. Keep up to date with line movements at SI Sportsbook.

Bank on the Bengals on the Moneyline? Get the latest odds on SI Sportsbook

SB DFS Anchors: Building a single-game DFS lineup can be rather difficult with so few choices to differentiate from. Piacenti singled out the most-expensive players worth paying up for as well, as a few mid-tier and bargain plays to round out your lineup.

First Halftime Song Odds Change Dramatically: “California Love” was the favorite to be the first song played at the halftime show, but that changed Thursday when Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg’s “The Next Episode” became the heavy favorite. Taddeo has the details.

SI Betting Super Bowl Hub: To read all of the SI Betting and Fantasy team’s coverage ahead of the big game, visit our Super Bowl hub for all of our previews and predictions.

Pre-Game Reading

The Legend of ‘Money Mac’ Evan McPherson

Mark Humphrey/AP

Cincinnati’s first-year kicker has put together an historic postseason and rookie campaign. The Florida product has nailed five game-winning kicks this season to get the Bengals to this point and he infamously said before a field goal that sent the top-seeded Titans home: “Welp, looks like we’re going to the AFC championship game.” Conor Orr unpacked the legend McPherson has already built.

Behind Joe Burrow’s Infamous Cigar Celebrations: The Bengals’ quarterback capped off his perfect season at LSU two years ago with a well-known and well-deserved cigar celebration. That photo has become synonymous with Burrow’s many successes from the pinnacle of college football to the biggest stage in the NFL. Ross Dellenger tells the story of how the cigar celebration—and famous photo—came to be.

Get your FREE bet for the Big Game on SI Sportsbook

Chase, Burrow Take Home Awards at NFL Honors: The Bengals’ star tandem of quarterback Burrow and receiver Chase won Comeback Player of the Year and Offensive Rookie of the Year on Thursday. Chase was the heavy favorite, while Burrow upset Dak Prescott.

NBA Action

76ers’ Title Odds Surge

Noah K. Murray/AP

The dominoes finally fell on the James Harden-Ben Simmons trade. The Nets’ star guard was shipped from Brooklyn after weeks of rumored discontent to Philadelphia to reunite with Daryl Morey, his longtime general manager in Houston. In return, the 76ers sent back a huge package featuring Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond and a pair of first-round picks. The Sixers’ title odds slashed from +1300 prior to the trade to +650 following the move.

Winners and Losers from the Trade Deadline: Which teams, individuals and abstract entities emerged victorious or downtrodden after a flurry of moves this week? Rohan Nadkarni breaks down the good and bad of the recent player movement around the NBA.

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Thanks for starting your day with Winners Club! The big game is still a few days away, so keep following @SI_Fantasy and @SI_Betting for continuous coverage leading up to the game and during it. May all of your bets hit and your Super Bowl spread come out tasting great.

Enjoy your Super Bowl Sunday!