Today: Mar 29, 2024

Student Super Bowl predictions

Ben Martin Contributor

The most important sporting event in America will be occurring Sunday. As the Philadelphia Eagles battle the Kansas City Chiefs in the final contest of the NFL season.  

The game will feature both of the number one teams in their respective conferences; however, many university students did not predict this matchup from the beginning.  

One of those students was business major Allen Livits, a junior. “Honestly, this was not the matchup I predicted,” Livits said. “I am a Giants fan, so I wanted the Giants to win, obviously I am a little biased, but I thought the Bengals were honestly going to win it all and I thought the packers were going to have a comeback into the playoffs and surprise everybody, but both my predictions were obviously completely wrong.”  

Livits, like five of his fellow students, had high hopes for the Cincinnati Bengals including sports management major, Sam Issacson, senior who hoped for the San Francisco 49ers and the Cincinnati Bengals.  

Along with Issacson, sports management major Michael Puglio, sophomore, sports management major, Jaylen Lewis, senior, and nursing major, Lauren Klemonski, sophomore, agreed upon the Bengals making it out of the American Football Conference (AFC).  

As far as the team representing the National Football Conference (NFC), predictions were more mixed.  

“At the beginning of the playoffs, I had 49ers Chiefs,” Puglio said. “After seeing what happened, I thought it would be Eagles vs. Bengals actually, so I kind of flip flopped them,”  

Puglio is referencing the injuries that occurred to both the 49ers and Chiefs quarterbacks in the playoffs. In the divisional round of the NFC playoffs, the 49ers lost their third quarterback of the season due to injury. In the middle of the first quarter, 49ers starting quarterback Brock Purdy was hit by Eagles defensive end Hassan Reddick which caused a torn ligament in his throwing elbow.  

That injury caused Purdy to miss most of the game, and to become virtually ineffective when he came back into the game. The Kansas City Chiefs had a similar experience occur in their championship game, when their starting quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, suffered a high ankle sprain caused by a late hit out of bound by Cincinnati’s defense.  

Along with Puglio, Livits had predicted either the Giants or Packers, Issacson the 49ers, and Lewis and Klemonski correctly predicted the Eagles.  

Now, with the matchup set, the Chiefs are favored by a 1.5-point spread; however, many students did not agree with the pick or the spread.  

“Oh, philly is about to win, Jalen Hurts about to get a ring,” Lewis said.  

Along with Lewis, Puglio also picked the Eagles to win but provided a final score prediction of 26-20. Issacson and Livits went with the other contender in the matchup, Issacson with by a final score of 34-22 and Livits by a score of 24-17.  

Although Sunday may be about the football, a few students are looking forward to the game for reasons other than the football matchup.  

“I love super bowl food,” Livits said. “You got to get around with friends, each chicken wing with your boys so it’s not a bad experience.”  

Along with Livits, Klemonski is looking forward to more than just the game.  

“I always like going to Superbowl parties,” Klemonski said. “I just think they’re fun and lighthearted. I love the atmosphere and there’s good food.”  

Regardless of whomever they wanted to win, everyone hoped for a good matchup and close game.  

“The Eagles have a really strong defense, its pretty known that they have the best defense in the league right now,” Klemonski said after watching their previous matchup against the 49ers. “The chiefs, I think they rely on Mahomes to do so much work, but he can’t carry the entire team on his back, and I have a feeling they are going to let him down.”  

Mahomes’ injuries throughout the regular season and playoffs added to the concern about his performance in the game Kelmonski added. She believes this super bowl could be a repeat of the 2021 Superbowl when the Chiefs went up against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  

“I want Mahomes to win and if he wins it will add more to his legacy, but if Hurts wins, he brings back an Eagles Superbowl and he will show that Oklahoma quarterbacks can actually win in the NFL.”  

Along with Issacson, Puglio provided more in-depth commentary about the game.  

“For the Chiefs, I need to see if there defensive line will be able to stop the run against the Eagles,” Puglio said. “I think the Eagles best attributes are their offensive line and also their defensive line. I think the line of scrimmage is a big emphasis and I think the Eagles are most adept to handle that.”  

Lewis wants an entertaining matchup for the big game as well.  

“Just a good game hopefully,” Lewis said. “Not just a blowout or a one-sided game.”  

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