Thanks to David Fucillo from one of our sister sites (Niners Nation) for passing this along to me.
I know we all like to look at pre-season magazines and listen to the predictions of the "experts" as we get closer to the football season. . .after all, we haven't seen meaningful football in about five months, and we're chomping at the bit for more. But those predictions, for the most part, really don't mean a whole lot.
The folks from Sports Odds History have compiled this list of Super Bowl favorites from the last 12 years. It shows that being the favorites in the pre-season doesn't necessarily mean a championship. In fact, in the last 12 years, only one team that has been the pre-season favorite to win it all has won it all.
| Year | Pre-Season Favorite | Eventual Champion |
| 2001 | St. Louis Rams | New England Patriots |
| 2002 | St. Louis Rams | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| 2003 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | New England Patriots |
| 2004 | Philadelphia Eagles | New England Patriots |
| 2005 | Indianapolis Colts/Philadelphia Eagles/New England Patriots | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| 2006 | Indianapolis Colts | Indianapolis Colts |
| 2007 | New England Patriots | New York Giants |
| 2008 | New England Patriots | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| 2009 | New England Patriots | New Orleans Saints |
| 2010 | Indianapolis Colts | Green Bay Packers |
| 2011 | New England Patriots | New York Giants |
| 2012 | Green Bay Packers | ???? |
For that 2005 entry, those three teams all started the season with the same odds.
The Vikings are still a long shot, to be sure. . .when my wife and I were in Vegas for our anniversary back in March, I found a casino that was willing to give me 80-to-1 on the Vikings winning Super Bowl XLVII. (And, yes, I placed that bet. . .it'll be awesome if it hits, but it's not really something I'm expecting.) But being the favorite in early July really means squat in the world of the National Football League. I guess that's why we enjoy it so much, huh?