Super Bowl XL is almost a month away and football fans don’t even know who the combatants will be.
However, the Las Vegas Hilton, which is trying to be first with the most bettors in the entire valley, has posted odds on the NFL’s 41st mid-winter show, to be played on February 1. 4 at Dolphins Stadium in Miami.
SuperBook Race and Sports Book director Jay Kornegay, Sports Book manager Ed Salmons, supervisors Jeff Sherman and Matt Metcalfe, and others in the betting business got together and put together numbers, just as they did with the BCS odds of 2007.
Peyton Manning-led Indianapolis, 14-2 and one of eight teams still in contention for the 2006 Super Bowl in Detroit, gave up the mantle of favorite.
The Colts, currently less than even money to get their first Lombardi Trophy on February 2. 5, broke from the gate as heavy 5/2 favorites to win the 2007 NFL title and 3/2 shots to capture the AFC.
Indy did not appear in the first 39 Super Bowls.
While the Colts, who have lost two of the last three regular season games, are obviously viewed by bettors as far above the rest of the league, the Patriots and Bolts top a list of second-tier AFC clubs. and Seattle is still the cream of the NFC crop.
New England, winner of the last two Super Bowls, and San Diego, which just missed the playoffs this season, are 10/1 seconds options to take over the 2007 affair.
Both are also 6/1 to dominate the AFC.
Pittsburgh is 12/1 to win the Super Bowl and 7/1 to take the AFC.
Cincinnati, Denver and Kansas City are 15/1 to rule the circuit in 2007 and 8/1 to win the conference.
Confirming the current NFL pecking order is the fact that the Seahawks, at 14/1, are ranked as the NFC’s best hope to dethrone their AFC counterparts.
Seattle is also a 9/2 option to win the conference.
A host of NFC clubs are 20/1 to win the Super Bowl in Miami and 6/1 to win the NFC title: Carolina, Dallas, Washington, Chicago, Philadelphia and the New York Giants.
Atlanta, Tampa Bay and Jacksonville are 30/1 to win Super Bowl rings; the Falcons are 10/1 to win the NFC, the Bucs 13/1, and the Jags 17/1.
Minnesota, Miami, and Baltimore all went up as 40/1 Super Bowl shots; the Vikings opened at 15/1 to win the NFC and the Dolphins and Ravens at 22/1 to dominate the AFC.
Home favorite Oakland is a 50/1 and 27/1 Super Bowl pick to win the AFC.
St. Louis opened at 60/1 and 25/1, while Detroit and Arizona opened at 75/1 and 30/1.
Grouped at 100/1 to win the Super Bowl and 50/1 to claim an AFC championship were Buffalo, Cleveland, Houston, Tennessee, and the New York Jets.
Green Bay was a 100/1 Super Bowl selection and a 40/1 NFC selection.
The long shots were the Saints, returning to New Orleans, and the once mighty 49ers, five-time Super Bowl champions, at 200-1 to capture the Super Bowl and 75/1 to clinch an NFC crown.
***
Texas, which upset and dethroned national champion Southern Cal in the 2006 Rose Bowl, is the Las Vegas Hilton SuperBook’s fifth choice to capture the 2007 BCS Championship, behind the Trojans and a trio of other traditional national powerhouses.
Opening as the 5/1 favorite to claim the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, site of the national title game, in Glendale, Arizona on January 1. 8 is Ohio State, followed by Oklahoma and Notre Dame at 6/1, USC at 7/1, and the Longhorns at 10/1.
Among other notable clubs, Florida opened on 1/12 and Miami (Fla.) on 1/15.
Grouped at 20/1 were Michigan, West Virginia, Auburn and Florida State.
Penn State went up 30/1, UCLA 40/1, Alabama 50/1, and Tennessee and Georgia 60/1.
UNLV was the longshot listed at 1000/1 and the field opened at 30/1.
