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The New England Patriots opened as three-point favorites over the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLVI.
That's a far narrower spread than the previous time the two teams met in the NFL's title game. In 2008, an undefeated New England team was favored by 12 points over Eli Manning and the Giants. New York, of course, went on to win that game in one of the greatest upsets in Super Bowl history.
The three-point opening spread is identical to last year's, in which the Green Bay Packers were slight favorites over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Overall, favorites have won six of the last eight Super Bowls outright and 33 of 45 overall. Throughout history, favorites are 26-16-3 against the spread.
The biggest spread in Super Bowl history came in 1996 when the 49ers were 18.5-point favorites over the San Diego Chargers. The smallest spread was in Super Bowl V. The Dallas Cowboys were favored over the Baltimore Colts by one point.
The over/under in Super Bowl XLVI was set at 55 points.
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