Super Bowl odds almost never favor the Wild Card teams. The teams that are the Wild Cards did not win their divisions and they are not considered as strong as other teams in Super Bowl betting. What might surprise you though is that Wild Card teams can win the SuperBowl.
Super Bowl odds have four teams that get byes for the first round while the other eight teams have to play in the Wild Card round. The teams that have the byes are the favorites in Super Bowl betting but that does not mean they are going to win the big game. In fact, in three of the last four years, a team playing on the first weekend of the NFL playoffs has gone on to win the SuperBowl. Last season the Arizona Cardinals made the Super Bowl but didn’t win the game. They did cover the SuperBowl odds though. Everyone is going to fall in love with the Indianapolis Colts, San Diego Chargers, New Orleans Saints and Minnesota Vikings, but the other eight teams have a lot better chance to win in Super Bowl betting than you might think.
Why do Wild Card teams do so well in the playoffs? Part of the reason is that they continue to play. The bye week sounds good for the best teams as they get to rest players but far too often the teams lose their edge and don’t play up to their abilities after a bye week. That could be one of the reasons why the teams playing without a bye do so well in Super Bowl odds.
The goal in any tournament is just to get in. Anything can happen in Super Bowl odds once a team gets into the playoffs. A Wild Card team just needs to get hot and play well and they can win three straight and make it to Super Bowl odds. Going back into Super Bowl betting history we see that since the Wild Card came into existence in the playoffs, six teams have won the Super Bowl and as stated previously, in three of the last four years. The Oakland Raiders were the first Wild Card team to win back in SuperBowl XV. It took another 17 years for it to happen again as Denver won in SuperBowl XXXII. The Ravens did it in SuperBowl XXXV while the Steelers won Super Bowl XL. The Giants won SuperBowl XLII while Pittsburgh won last season.
Picking a winner in Super Bowl odds is not always as predictable as you might think and Wild Card teams can definitely win in Super Bowl odds.