1) If winning the Super Bowl is not enough incentive for the Bears’ Lance Briggs and the Colts’ Cato June to play at their highest level, the lure of big bucks might be. These linebackers will be free agents at the end of the season and can significantly increase their worth with strong performances on Sunday.

2) A total of eight players ‘ seven Bears and one Colt ‘ will be playing the Super Bowl in their college state. Notable alumni include Florida Gators Rex Grossman, Alex Brown and Todd Johnson, and Miami Hurricanes Devin Hester and Reggie Wayne.

3) Five Bears have called Dolphins Stadium their home previously in their careers: OLB Brendon Ayanbadejo, TE Desmond Clark, QB Brian Griese, DE Adewale Ogunleye and T John St. Clair are all former ‘Fins.

4) New York football fans might see some familiar players wearing blue and orange this Sunday. Former Jets defender Darrell McClover, Giants punter Brad Maynard and Bills guard Ruben Brown are all now a game away from winning the big one with the Bears.

5) WR Ricky Proehl, signed late in the season by the Colts, is the only player on either team to have played for both Indy and Chicago.

6) After Sunday, the Colts will have played in three Super Bowls. Each one they will have played in Miami.

7) QBs Peyton Manning and Rex Grossman were both runners-up for the Heisman Trophy, Manning in 1997 and Grossman in 2001.

8) Chicago Bears fans can thank, or blame, depending on your point of view, the New York Jets for a crucial part of their Super Bowl team. In the 2003 NFL draft the Jets traded first-round picks with the Bears. Gang Green selected DT Dwayne Robinson, while Chicago picked QB Rex Grossman.

9) If the Colts win the Super Bowl, coach Tony Dungy will become the third person to win the big game both as a coach and a player; his on-the-field ring came with the Steelers in 1979. The other two to have accomplished this feat are Mike Ditka and Tom Flores.

10) Players with more touchdown catches this postseason than Colts WR Marvin Harrison (0): Colts C Jeff Saturday (1) and DT/FB Dan Klecko (1), and Patriots G Logan Mankins (1) and CB Asante Samuel (2).

11) The Colts lead the all-time series vs. the Bears 22-15. The last time these two teams met was in 2004, with Indy beating Chicago 41-10 behind Manning’s four TD passes.

12) Before the Colts drafted Joseph Addai this year, Dominic Rhodes was thought to be Edgerrin James’ successor. Rhodes’ best season was during Edge’s injury-plagued 2001, in which he ran for 1,104 yards and nine TDs.

13) Every Colt offensive starter has spent his entire career with Indianapolis.

14) On the flip side, only three Bears offensive starters (QB Rex Grossman, WR Bernard Berrian and C Olin Kreutz) were drafted by Chicago.

15) In the last 10 years, only two players selected as Super Bowl MVPs were drafted in the first round. Seems like bad news for players like Rex Grossman, Peyton Manning and Brian Urlacher.

16) The Bears led the NFC in both scoring offense and scoring defense.

17) If Manning wins the Super Bowl MVP, he will become the second person ever to be named MVP in the regular season, Pro Bowl and Super Bowl. Jerry Rice was the first.