Qualifying groups for Euro 2016

Click here for the full calendar of the qualifying fixtures.

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Qualifying round: September 2014 to October 2015.

Playoff round if needed: November 2015.

Final tournament: June-July 2016, in France.

Winners and runners-up of each group advance to the final tournament, plus the four best third-place teams. There's no group of death, which is sensible at this stage. However, some groups are clearly more affordable or competitive than others. Group-by-group breakdown follows.

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Group A. Would have been tough two decades ago. Now it's a walk in the park for the Oranje. Turkey should get second.

Group B. Despite Bosnia being the top seed, it's Belgium who have the upper hand. No hope for the rest.

Group C. Perhaps the better balanced group, with Ukraine and Slovakia who will battle it out. Other than that, clear Spanish domination.

Group D. Same as group A, but as it stands it's an easy German domination. Scotland-Ireland rivalry games!

Group E. Also a fairly well-balanced group behind England. Slovenia and Switzerland have a genuine shot.

Group F. No clear favorite, and whoever wins is likely to be mediocre in the tournament anyway.

Group G. This could surprise. Bold prediction: Montenegro will win this group.

Group H. Italy and Croatia have all but secured the top two spots.

Group I. Tight little group with three serious contenders (Por-Den-Ser). This might be fun to watch.

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Given that we could have had Serbia, Croatia, and Montenegro in the same group, it's cool that we didn't. Can you imagine the mess, again?
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2014 Super Bowl: some statistics

Here are some stats ahead of the Big Game. While only relatively significant, they do have some predictive power, and more importantly it's fun! I have collected these from ESPN, NFL, Wikipedia (via NFL), and the awesome Advanced NFL Stats.

Denver and Seattle:

• Denver are the #1 offense, but they have played only two top-10 defenses (Houston, NYG), winning both times.

• Seattle are the #1 defense, but they have played only one top-10 offense (New Orleans), and won.

• In the last 15 years, the best offense has played four Super Bowls (2-2), as has the best defense (3-1), though not in the same year.

• Best offense and best defense have met four times in the Super Bowl, the last being in 1990; this will be the fifth time. Defenses are 3-1.

• Denver leads Seattle 34-19 all time. Last meeting: 2010 (Denver won 31-14; neither made the playoffs). There is only one playoff meeting: 1983 Wild Card round (Seattle won 13-11, their first-ever playoff game).

• This is Seattle's second Super Bowl (0-1). They lost to Pittsburg in 2005.

• This is Denver's seventh Super Bowl (2-4). They won in 1998 and 1999 (both led by John Elway) after losing a record four Super Bowls (78, 87, 88, 90 -- the last three also with John Elway).

• In six out of seven Super Bowls in which they played, Denver were led by a quarterback that was Indianapolis' first draft pick: Elway five times and Manning once (though Elway, unlike Manning, never did play for Indy).

• Denver's and Seattle's lineups both have no players or coaches from their last Super Bowl appearance. Seattle also have no players or coaches with previous Super Bowl experience.

General:

• Only four teams have played in two or more Super Bowls with no wins: Bills (4), Vikings (4), Bengals (2), and Eagles (2). The Seahawks would be the fifth by losing today.

• Only five teams have won 3+ consecutive Super Bowls in which they played: Packers (67, 68, 97); Cowboys (93, 94, 96); Patriots (02, 04, 05); Steelers (75, 76, 79, 80); and 49ers (82, 85, 89, 90, 95). The Broncos would be the sixth by winning today (98, 99).

• This is the 10th out of the last 11 Super Bowls in which the AFC quarterback is either Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, or Ben Roethlisberger. The exception was Joe Flacco in 2013.

• No starting quarterback has ever won two Super Bowls with two different teams. Manning would be the first by winning today. He won one (2007) and lost one (2010), both with Indianapolis.

• 11 quarterbacks have won more than one Super Bowl; Manning would be the 12th by winning today.

• Only one second-year quarterback has ever won a Super Bowl: Ben Roethlisberger with Pittsburgh in 2005. Seattle's Russell Wilson would be the second by winning today. (Dan Marino also played in a Super Bowl as a second-year quarterback, in 1985 with Miami, but lost).

• Winning the coin toss in the Super Bowl is meaningless: teams that won it are 23-24.

• Denver are 0-3 in Super Bowls while wearing orange jerseys, which they will wear tonight too.

• Peyton Manning is 85-35 with 40+ degrees and 8-11 with 40-. Temps are expected to remain around 40 tonight.

Happy Super Bowl Sunday! And may the odds be ever in your favor. No scratch that. :-P