In so many ways, it is perfect that the LSU vs. South Carolina women’s basketball showdown falls on Super Bowl Sunday.
The match-up between the No. 3 Tigers and No. 1 Gamecocks will pit the only two undefeated teams left in the nation. It will almost surely decide the SEC regular season title and No. 1 seed in the conference tournament, with the winner taking a full game lead plus ownership of the tiebreaker into the final two weeks of play.
It is the Super Bowl of the 2022-23 regular season, and the first of two Super Bowls for Dawn Staley on the day. Her beloved Philadelphia Eagles will be chasing their second championship in franchise history on Sunday night, taking on the Kansas City Chiefs in a game set to start about two hours after the game in Columbia ends.
Prop bets have been a fixture of Super Bowl Sunday for years, from betting on the color of the winning coach’s gatorade bath to the first song of the halftime show. But if you want to really get creative, and loop the two biggest games into each other, here are some cross-sport props for the two biggest games of the day.
Angel Reese + Aliyah Boston total rebounds, or points by the winning team?
Sunday afternoon will feature two of the top rebounders in the country. Reese and Boston are currently combining to average 25.8 rebounds per game, the only two players in the SEC who are averaging double-digit rebounds per game. Reese in particular has had some explosions on the glass, most recently pulling in 22 rebounds against Texas A&M.
Over on the football side, Kansas City and Philadelphia had two of the top three offenses in the NFL regular season averaging 29.2 and 28.1 points per game respectively. There is potential for the Super Bowl to become a shootout, and both Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts are certainly capable of guiding their offenses into the 30s.
If Reese vs. Boston is as tight as it could be, and the game script demands both players play upwards of 35 minutes, they could shatter this total. If they take rebounds off each other and neither one has a big total, your pick might skew towards the football number.
Raven Johnson assists, or Hurts + Mahomes touchdowns?
South Carolina’s electric bench point guard Raven Johnson has been on a tear lately, picking up a career-high seven assists at UConn last Sunday. She will still be playing behind Kierra Fletcher on the depth chart, but Johnson’s transition game will be a crucial element of trying to start up tempo and break through LSU’s halfcourt defense.
But will she dish off enough dimes to beat out the touchdown pass total in Glendale? Hurts and Mahomes are threats to score both through the air with their legs, and are averaging two touchdowns apiece so far in the playoffs.
South Carolina steals, or Devonta Smith receptions
The Gamecocks have been ballhawks all season, averaging 7.6 steals per game with two players averaging over a steal per game. Unsurprisingly with a 23-0 record, LSU has been holding on to the ball well this season with the second-fewest turnovers in the SEC with 14.7 per game.
Smith is averaging 5.5 catches per game, but has popped with four games of eight or more catches this season. He has historically had a knack for showing up in the biggest games, most famously when he caught a dozen passes for 215 yards and three touchdowns with Alabama in the 2020 National Championship Game.
Combined shooting percentage, or longest made field goal?
Once again, LSU and South Carolina are the two best shooting teams in the SEC. The Tigers have a slightly better clip — 48 percent compared to 46.8 percent for the Gamecocks — both teams have even broken above the 50 percent line this season.
Meanwhile, both Super Bowl kickers can hit from long range. Philadelphia’s Jake Elliott has hit from as far out as 56 yards this season, and Kansas City’s Harrison Butker even hit from 62 yards out in a regular season game.
This one has layers to it. Will one of the teams come out shooting hot? Could the relentless defense both teams play turn it into a slugfest with blocks and contested looks? If the Super Bowl becomes a shootout, could the Chiefs and Eagles decide to push field goals by the boards and go for touchdowns?
Alexis Morris made field goals, or Travis Kelce receptions?
Most of the individual focus on this game is about the battle between Reese and Boston inside, but LSU guard Alexis Morris has been red hot lately. The senior has averaged 21.3 points per game over her last four contests, shooting exactly 50 percent (31-of-62) from the floor.
That clip of almost nine field goals per game over the last two weeks puts her right in the range of Kansas City’s top target. Kelce has caught at least six passes in Kansas City’s last six games, including a whopping 14 in a playoff win over Jacksonville.
Kelce and Morris both have boom-or-bust potential, and both will be absolutely vital to their respective teams on Sunday.
Total technical fouls, or interceptions thrown?
It is no secret this game is going to be physical. It will be two of the toughest teams in the country going to battle with everything on the line, and officiating is going to be a crucial element of play. Even other SEC coaches have taken notice.
“The biggest challenge that day will be for the SEC to get an officiating crew that can manage it,” Arkansas head coach Mike Neighbors said three weeks ago. “I can’t wait for them to play each other and see how the rebounding battle goes.”
There will be fouls, it will likely be the most physical team each team plays this season and of course there will be flashpoint moments between the two eccentric head coaches. South Carolina is coming off a stretch where two of its last three games have featured a technical foul, and two of LSU’s last four games have also had at least one.
It seems almost inevitable there will be a technical at some point, but will there be more technicals than Mahomes and Hurts interceptions?
