If you’re like me, your favorite team isn’t in the Super Bowl. Again. I’m 35 and my favorite team has never once even made it to a Super Bowl in my lifetime.

If you’re an Eagles fan or a Patriots fan, however, you’re on Cloud Nine right now dreaming of your team hoisting the coveted Lombari Trophy. Even if you’re from the Philadelphia or Boston areas and not much of a football fan, you’re still likely to turn on the TV for this one occasion.

But what about fans from around the rest of the world whose favorite teams won’t be participating, especially those devastated fans whose teams had real shots and got knocked out late in the playoffs?

First off, here are some ways to enjoy the game and root for one team or the other to win.

• You could root for the team that knocked your team out of the playoffs to win the game, because it validates the fact that that team truly was the best in the league, and you lost to the best.
• Conversely, you could root against the team that knocked your team out of the playoffs, because they hurt you so deeply and you want their fans to suffer the same agonizing taste of defeat.
• Choose a team to root for based on their recent success, or lack thereof. The Patriots have won many Super Bowls in recent years. The Eagles haven’t.
• Likewise, choose a team to root for based on the city’s overall success in sports in recent memory. Bostonians have been spoiled rotten in the 2000s with the Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics, and Bruins all winning titles. Philadelphia has only the 2008 Phillies.
• Root for a team based on geography. Unfortunately, since both remaining teams play in the northeast, most Americans are about the same distance from both cities.
• Root for the underdog according to the Vegas odds. This year, the Patriots open as favorites, making the Eagles the underdog team despite having the same regular season record.
• Does either team have a player local to you? Austin residents may root for hometown boy Nick Foles and the Eagles, while Michigan residents may cheer for former Wolverine Tom Brady and the Patriots. Research the rosters and see for yourself! 106 total players will be active for the game—they all are from somewhere!
• Is a close friend or family member a fan of one of the teams? Cheer for their team and support your friend. (Or cheer against that team, because if you can’t have nice things, neither can your friend!!!)
• Team colors are a popular way to cheer a team on. What scheme do you like better—navy, red, and silver, or dark green and white?
• Put money down on one of the teams at random and root for them to make you rich!

Don’t give a crap who wins? Me neither! Here are some ways to enjoy the game and without having any rooting interest.

• By far the most popular way—watch for the commercials! Companies spend a staggering amount of money on ads, and they only bring out their A-game.
• The “squares game” is a fun way to throw a few dollars at the game and win some money regardless of which team is winning. This game is a 10×10 grid where 100 squares are sold at random. After the board is filled, the rows and columns are labeled with a number 0-9. If the final digit of each team’s score at the end of each quarter corresponds to your square, you win money.
• Go to a Super Bowl party purely for the food and drinks. People tend to come up with elaborate spreads for the big game.
• Watch only for the big halftime show entertainment.
• Watch just for the spectacle of the event. It’s the world’s biggest stage. Over 100 million people will be watching and discussing the game the next day. You don’t want to be left out, do you?
• Lastly, watch it because you like football and maybe this will be an exciting game.

So what way will you choose? Can you find a way to root for the Patriots or Eagles, or will you just keep it on Animal Planet and watch Puppy Bowl?

My Hot Take:
If I watch (and I’m sure in the end I will) it will only be because I was invited to a Super Bowl party with lots of delicious snacks and booze and my friends will be there. Unless I wind up placing a wager on the game, I truly, truly have no rooting interest in who wins at this time. #SadSkol

tl;dr
Don’t care for the Super Bowl teams? Watch it just for fun and hope it’s an exciting game, or put some money down to make it more interesting. And there are always the commercials.