Not the favorites this time, but expectations remain high for the Nationals

Baseball is close. The biggest sports day of the year is upon us, as we'll all gather around for tonight's Super Bowl. But once the Lombardi Trophy is awarded to the Broncos or Panthers, we can truly the flip the calendar, allowing our attention to shift to the national pastime as spring training nears.

There will be more than $100 million wagered legally in Las Vegas on tonight's game on anything from the final score to whether there will be an earthquake in the Bay Area during the game. You can even bet the over-under on how many times Cam Newton will dab in the Super Bowl.

So while I was wading through possible wagers - for entertainment purposes only - I decided to check on the current odds to win the 2016 World Series. Fresh off the blockbuster acquisition of ace Max Scherzer, the Nationals held the best odds to win the World Series at this time last year. We know how that turned out.

Coming off an underperforming season coupled with the losses of Jordan Zimmermann, Ian Desmond, Denard Span, Doug Fister and Casey Janssen, you would expect the Nats to drop significantly in this year's projections.

Wait, did he just say Casey Janssen? Heck, that should improve their odds.

Anyway, the Nats haven't slipped that far according to the reputable sharps at oddssharks.com. Currently, the Nationals have the fifth-best odds to win the World Series at 14/1. The only problem Vegas projects is Washington doesn't even own the top odds in the National League East. That distinction goes to the Mets, last year's division winner, at 8/1.

Here are the top five odds to win the World Series (notice the NL slant):

Chicago Cubs - 4/1
San Francisco Giants - 7/1
New York Mets - 8/1
Boston Red Sox - 12/1
Washington Nationals - 14/1
Los Angeles Dodgers - 14/1

No surprise the Cubs are the overwhelming favorite after adding free agents Ben Zobrist and Jason Heyward to go along with defending NL Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta and Rookie of the Year Kris Bryant.

One assumes those odds would look far different had the Nationals landed Heyward, Zobrist or Yoenis Cespedes. The Nationals went down to the wire with all three free agents before losing out. But odds don't prove anything. Many variables can change the direction of a team throughout the course of a season. Just ask now former Nationals manager Matt Williams, who was forced to draw up a lineup night after night without Anthony Rendon, Jayson Werth, Ryan Zimmerman and Span.

In fact, four of the last six Super Bowls have been won by the underdog. So that gets us back to tonight's game. I'm going with the favorite.

Panthers 24, Broncos 23

By the way, if you made it out to the Nationals Hot Stove season ticket holder event yesterday with general manager Mike Rizzo, let me know your impressions.