Jeff Haney takes a look at which propositions have been most popular in the weeks leading up to Super Bowl XL

Friday, Feb. 3, 2006 | 12:30 p.m.

Of the hundreds of Super Bowl proposition wagers on the board at the Las Vegas Hilton sports book, a handful have had significant movement in the betting line.

Propositions - or "props" - include any offbeat or unusal betting opportunity and have become an exceptionally popular way to bet on the Super Bowl.

In some cases, the moves were just corrections in the betting marketplace. Gamblers jumped on big differences in early betting lines on similar props at separate sports books around town and offshore, according to Hilton sports book Assistant Manager Jeff Sherman.

But the action on some of the props gives an indication of how the betting public expects various aspects of Sunday's Super Bowl, in which the Pittsburgh Steelers are favored by 4 to 4 1/2 points against the Seattle Seahawks, to play out. For example:

Las Vegas sports handicapper Mark Franco makes a compelling case for betting the "over" in the prop asking how many gross passing yards Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will compile Sunday.

Franco, who is online at francosports.com, points out that Roethlisberger has been outstanding throughout the playoffs and he expects more of the same as the Steelers have expanded their offense from a previously one-dimensional "power running game."

Roethlisberger enters the Super Bowl with a 68 percent completion rate (49-for-72) for 680 yards, eight touchdowns (seven passing) and a quarterback rating of 124.8 in the Steelers' three playoff victories. Further, the Steelers were nursing a lead in two of those games, so Roethlisberger threw the football even less than might have been expected, Franco said.

At the Las Vegas Hilton, the number on Roethlisberger's passing yards has crept up to 221 1/2 from an opener of 218 1/2.

Oddsmakers at Caesars Palace traditionally come up with plenty of thought-provoking Super Bowl props, and this year is no exception.

Unique to Caesars are props that link the winner of the Super Bowl with the winner of the Daytona 500 (for example, a Steelers/Jimmie Johnson result would pay 8-1); the conference that produces the NCAA basketball tournament champion (Steelers/ACC, 9-2); and the winner of Saturday night's Ultimate Fighting title bout between Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture.

Caesars also offers a menu of "more/less" props on various individual player and team results. For instance, bettors can wager on whether Roethlisberger will finish with more than 172 1/2 but less than 222 1/2 yards.

Wagering on TV ratings is not permitted in Nevada, but offshore book Pinnacle has set an over/under of 41 Nielsen rating points for Sunday's Super Bowl. That would be a drop from last year's Super Bowl between the Philadelphia Eagles and the New England Patriots, which generated a Nielsen rating of 43.4, according to CNN.

Jeff Haney can be reached at 259-4041 or haney@lasvegassun.com.