But some will pray nonetheless, and a few will “religiously” perform little game-day rituals just in case.

A survey by Public Religion Research Institute in the United States, released Jan. 16, probes  the crossover between team spirit and spirituality.

Most Americans (60 per cent) call themselves fans of a particular team. Among this group, several will do a little dance or say a little prayer to help the team along:

- 21 per cent (including one in four football fans) will wear special clothes or do special rituals. Donning a team jersey leads the way (66 per cent). But some admit they get a little funky with their underwear. One fan wears dirty undershorts on top of his jeans.  (No word if these are boxers or briefs.)

- 25 per cent (including 31 per cent of football fans) have sometimes felt their team has been cursed. (No word on how many are Red Sox fans.)

- 26 per cent (including one in three football fans) say they pray to God to help their team. White evangelicals are most likely to lean on the Lord on this: 38 per cent will pray, more than any other religious group.

- Football fans are also more likely than other fans to admit praying for their team (33 per cent to 21 per cent), performing pre-game or game-time rituals (25 per cent to 18 per cent), or to believe that their team has been cursed (31 per cent to 18 per cent).

Although three-quarters of respondents said God plays no role in who wins, Americans are evenly divided on whether God rewards faith-filled athletes with good health and success, with 48 per cent saying yes and 47 per cent saying no.

PRRI surveyed 1,011 people in English and Spanish between Jan. 8 and Jan. 12. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.