Super Bowl XLV: Why the Packers Are Favored Over the Steelers

Aaron Rodgers was a high school freshman the last time the Pack played in the Super Bowl.Scott Halleran/Getty Images

The Green Bay Packers are still the slight two-and-a-half point favorite to win this Super Bowl XLV and if you poll the Steeler Nation, they would like to know why.

Great question. Great teams and considering that Pittsburgh have won two of the past five Super Bowls, you'd figure the Steelers would be favored in this little tussle on Sunday evening in Dallas.

So here's the skinny folks:

"This is the one line we have all year that is driven by public perception," says the oddsmaker for the Las Vegas Hilton's sports book, one Jay Kornegay.

"And the public's perception is the Packers are a better team," he added.

So does this mean that the state of Wisconsin is putting its money where the cheese is and loading up on the Packers?

Does this mean that Steeler Nation is sitting there with its hands and its money in its pockets?

Apparently so.

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"The Packers have played well for most part in the postseason," adds the Hilton's "bookie." "So I can see why the public believes they're the better team.

That is interesting considering Ben Roethlisberger's big-game experience and the fact that the last time the Packers went to the Super Bowl, Aaron Rodgers was a high school freshman.

If it wasn't for Joe-Public, Kornegay said that the overwhelming number of oddsmakers would have listed the Steelers as a one-point favorite.

So take comfort, Steeler Nation, this is all the public's fault.

Now we know why the Men of Steel are the underdogs coming in.

It's because "the public" says so.