How Often Do #1 Seeds Win The Super Bowl?
The San Francisco 49ers will take on the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas on Feb.11.
The 49ers opened as the early favorites with sports betting sites to win the Super Bowl, despite giving up 52 points in their two playoff games.
The No. 1 seed 49ers rallied from a 17-point deficit to beat the Detroit Lions 34-31 after the No. 3 seed Chiefs beat the Baltimore Ravens 17-10 in the Charm City.
This will be the first Super Bowl to be contested by a No. 1- and 3-seed since the Indianapolis Colts (#3) beat the Chicago Bears (#1) 29-17 in Miami at the end of the 2006 season.
It remains the only time in the last 30 years that a No. 3 seed has won the Super Bowl. Can the Chiefs do what the Colts did?
Being the No. 1 seed in your conference guarantees nothing, as the Baltimore Ravens found out last weekend.
The Ravens came up short against a street-wise Chiefs team looking to win their third Super Bowl in five years.
| AFC | Seed | NFC |
|---|---|---|
| Baltimore Ravens | 1 | San Francisco 49ers |
| 2 | ||
| Kansas City Chiefs | 3 | |
| 4 | ||
| 5 | ||
| 6 | ||
| 7 |
The 49ers and Chiefs have a fortnight between games to prepare for Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas.
It promises to be a keenly contested Super Bowl similar to the previous two, which were both decided by three points.
So, how often does a No. 1 seed win the Super Bowl?
History Favors The 49ers
Generally speaking, the teams that secure the No. 1 seed are the best in their conference.
If teams can’t be separated by games won, etc., they’ll have won the most games and come out on top in the numerous tiebreakers.
In the last 30 years, 14 No. 1 seeds have gone on to win the Vince Lombardi Trophy, including the Chiefs last year when they beat the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 in Super Bowl LVII.
Of those 14 top seeds, eight came from the NFC, and the 49ers are hoping they can be the ninth to do so.
But they have to get past a Chiefs team who beat them 31-20 in Super Bowl LIV when the 49ers led by 10 points with just over six minutes left to play.
San Francisco's head coach, Kyle Shanahan, hopes he has learned from that disappointment.
Can Three Be The Magic Number For Chiefs?
The two Super Bowl titles the Chiefs have won in recent years have come as the No. 1 and 2 seeds. Can they do it as a No. 3 seed?
Our research shows that the odds are against third seeds to win a Super Bowl.
The Colts remain the only No. 3 seed to win a Super Bowl in the last 30 years, and that was in 2006.
As the AFC's No. 3 seed, the Chiefs have had to play their Divisional and Conference Championship games on the road.
For a team making the playoffs for the ninth straight season, this was not a problem for Kansas City.
After beating the Miami Dolphins at home, Andy Reid's team beat the Buffalo Bills, in Buffalo and the Ravens in Baltimore.
Travis Kelce caught 11 passes from Patrick Mahomes for 116 yards and a touchdown as the Chiefs beat the Ravens 17-10.
