When they met with the media Saturday, some Orlando Magic players fielded questions about Super Bowl XLVIII, which contest kicks off at 6:30 PM Eastern on Sunday, just a few hours after the Magic take on the Boston Celtics in Beantown. Here are who those players picked to win the game between the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks, and why:
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Coach Jacque Vaughn: Denver
I'm a Peyton Manning fan, I really am. Just what he stands for: he prepares, he wants to win, he's a leader. I'd love to see him get it.
Maurice Harkless: Denver
Broncos. Peyton Manning, I love Peyton Manning. He's a great quarterback, one of the best of all time, so I'm looking forward to him getting another ring.
Victor Oladipo: Denver
I just wanna see a really good game, to be honest with you. I don't really care who's gonna win. But if I had to choose, I would go with Peyton. I'm a fan of his. I'm a fan of Russell [Wilson] too, but Russell's young, so he has more time to get back there. Peyton Manning, he's just getting older, so...
Arron Afflalo: Seattle
I'll go Seahawks. I don't know anything about it.
When one writer noted that Afflalo picked the Seahawks despite having played for the Denver Nuggets earlier in his career, the seventh-year swingman chuckled and said, "they traded me, man!"
Magic center Nik Vučević said Friday he would support the Seahawks because their coach, Pete Carroll, helmed the USC Trojans' football program when Vučević attended school there. "I had a chance to talk to him a lot of times and he's a great guy," Vučević said of Carroll.
The oddsmakers favor Denver by two points, according to Oddsshark.com.