Tom Talks

Now that Super Bowl XLV is out of the way we can focus on Super Bowl XLVI.

BetUS.com already has released the odds.

The favorite to win the next Super Bowl is New England at 9-2.

The least likely team to win is Carolina at a staggering 300-1.

Here's how big 300-1 is.

The odds are 300-1 against you winning the lottery, meeting the man/woman of your dreams at lunch today and seeing the driver in front of you use his turn signal to indicate a lane change.

N.C. State's Sidney Lowe has a 300-1 chance to be named the NCAA men's basketball coach of the year.

The odds are 300-1 that neither Kyle Busch nor Jimmie Johnson will be booed at the Daytona 500.

The odds are 300-1 that Stephen Jackson of the Charlotte Bobcats will not be called for another technical this season.

I doubt the Panthers are prepared to make a Super Bowl run in 2011. But if they get a quarterback they can win as many games as they lose. The young Panthers won't be quite so young and inexperienced.

The next longest shot is Buffalo at 200-1. Arizona and Seattle are 100-1.

In the NFC South, Atlanta is 12-1, New Orleans 15-1 and Tampa Bay 25-1.

The odds against Green Bay repeating are 6-1. The odds against Pittsburgh winning are 7-1.

The odds that there will be a season are 10-1. That's 10-1 that the season will be played. Those are my odds, not BetUS.com's.

I don't know if it will start on time. I don't know if there will be training camp as we know it. Sorry, Spartanburg. And I like Spartanburg. I might go even if the Panthers aren't there.

The issues that separate management and labor are vast. Only urgency will reduce the distance.

Urgency is months away.