default-cbs-image

It's no surprise that the Patriots are the favorites to win Super Bowl LII, according to Las Vegas oddsmakers. This is what happens when Tom Brady is your quarterback and Bill Belichick is your coach and neither shows signs of aging.

But what might surprise you is this: More bets have been placed on the Oakland Raiders to win Super Bowl LII than any other NFL team at sportsbooks around Vegas, reports ESPN.com's David Purdum.

It's been a theme all offseason -- CBSSports.com's John Breech wrote in May that the Raiders, who are headed to Vegas for good in 2020, was the most popular team to bet on in the months following the Super Bowl. The Raiders also have the second-best odds of winning the Lombardi Trophy this season (15-2 earlier this summer) and are looking at a win total of 9.5 games.

But the Raiders relocating to Vegas does't explain the sudden uptick in interest, explains Westgate assistant manager Ed Salmons.

"I don't think it has anything to do with the Las Vegas angle," he told Purdum. "Last year, the Raiders played really high-scoring games, and they started covering spreads. That is just the dynamic of a public team."

And that's the thing: The Raiders, no matter where they play, are one of the best teams in the AFC. It starts with Derek Carr, Amari Cooper, Michael Crabtree and one of the NFL's best offensive lines, and includes a young, tenacious defense led by Khalil Mack. There's a lot to like.

Whether the hype matches reality is another matter. Take, for instance, the Raiders' 9.5 over-under win total.

"We've got 82 bets on over and 33 on under," Salmons said. "Essentially, the public is on the over, and the wise guys are definitely on the under on the Raiders."

Sophisticated bettors make their livings being right, which means they're wrong in this case, or that they know something about the Raiders that the the public doesn't. Either way, we'll know in a few months just how good the 2017 version of this team really is.