The Saints are going to win Super Bowl XLIV.

Why dat?

Because I gave Kragthorpe first pick and he took the Colts.

In other words, there is no good conclusive reason.

There are, however, plenty of sort of spotty, goofy, cosmic ones.

Without much doubt, the Colts on paper are the better team, with the better quarterback and the better defense.

So, where is it written that the better team always wins?

Not in the cosmos.

Vegas says Indy will heft the Lombardi Trophy.

But Madden NFL 10 predicts New Orleans will take the prize, as does a bunch of orangutans at Hogle Zoo who favored papier-mache helmets and footballs with Saints colors painted on them. There also supposedly was a prophetic dog in Texas who selected a bone with a fleur-de-lis pictured on it over one with a horseshoe.

It's bigger than just that, though.

Isn't the NFC 6-2 in Super Bowls where the top two seeds were matched?

Wait, there's more.

Dwight Freeney's ankle injury means he will be hobbled even if he does play. That's a nasty blow to the Colts' D.

The Saints' defense can't stop the run, but against the Colts, who are almost exclusively triggered out of the pass, they pretty much won't have to.

The Colts' defense, though underrated, will struggle against the diversity of Sean Payton's offensive attack. The Saints coach likes to create mismatches, and quarterback Drew Brees is adept at finding them, getting the ball where it needs to go.

The Saints' offense is capable of blowing up for big points. And their defense has become the master of the turnover. Five times against the Vikings, that defense forced -- and forced is the operative word there -- Minnesota to gag the ball up.

Peyton Manning knows how to punish a defense that recklessly brings extra bodies at him. But the Saints have shown a propensity for bringing added purposeful pressure, without getting stupid. Their defense didn't actually sack Brett Favre in the NFC championship game, but it did beat the bejeebers out of him with all those "remember me hits," as New Orleans defensive coordinator Gregg Williams called them.

It's a big if, but if the Saints can get to Manning, and rattle him a bit, it stands to reason that they will continue their season-long trend of getting and taking advantage of the turnovers with which opponents have rewarded them throughout. In the playoffs, the Saints are a plus-six in that realm. It's become a huge part of their success.

But the biggest thing going for the Saints is mojo.

There's something special happening with this particular team, from this particular city, at this particular time that screams out that New Orleans, one of only a handful of NFL franchises to have never before played in a Super Bowl, is going to get it done here and now.

Think about it: Since their inception in 1967, the Saints have won 279 games against 384 losses, with five ties. They've done next to nothing in the postseason. Too often, their fans have been forced to wear brown bags over their heads to hide their shame. For a lot of seasons, the "S" was completely dropped from their nickname.

Add to all of that the very real hardships New Orleans has endured since Katrina took her awful toll.

If there are football gods peering down or around from wherever they reside, it seems they might toss a biscuit or two toward this sweet melding of football team and football town.

Not out of pity, but out of approval of and for what this bunch of Saints has pulled off this season. By club standards, it's darn near a miracle. And who wants to see a miracle end in defeat?

The Colts are good and deserving. Manning, son of Archie, is terrific. Pierre Garcon is a great story, framed the way it is by Haiti's recent tragedies. Indy sure appears to be the best team in all of football.

But, sometimes, unexpected things are scribbled out in the cosmos. Who knows exactly why? Sometimes, strange things happen.

And things don't come much stranger than New Orleans winning a Super Bowl.

I'm just saying, I got a feeling it's gonna happen.

GORDON MONSON hosts the "Monson and Graham Show" weekdays from 2-6 p.m. on 1280 AM The Zone. He can be reached at gmonson@sltrib.com .