The 2006-07 NFL season will come to an end Sunday with Super Bowl XLI in Miami, with kickoff set for 5:25 p.m.This year, the AFC’s Indianapolis Colts (12-4) will take on the NFC’s Chicago Bears (13-3) in a matchup that will pit strength against strength.

The Colts are touted as one of the top offensive teams in the league. They rank third in total offense, while the Bears have what might be the best defense in the NFL, which ranked fifth in total defense.

This weekend’s game could look a lot like Super Bowl XXXVII between the Oakland Raiders and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Buccaneers won that game with the NFL’s top-ranked defense against the Raiders, who had the No. 1 offense in the league coming into the game.

One of the biggest story lines surrounding Super Bowl XLI is that the game will mark the first time that two black coaches have reached the Super Bowl. In fact, in the 40 years of the Super Bowl prior to this year, there had never been a black head coach in the Super Bowl, let alone a winner.

And it couldn’t happen to two closer friends.

Tony Dungy, head coach of the Colts, helped give Lovie Smith, head coach of the Bears, his first NFL job.

In 1995, Dungy was hired as the new head coach of the Buccaneers. Just one year later, Smith was hired by the Buccaneers to take over as the new linebackers coach. Smith left the Buccaneers after four seasons to join the St. Louis Rams. In 2001, Dungy was fired by the Buccaneers and was hired by the Colts in 2002. By 2004, Smith had moved on from the Rams and taken the job of head coach for the Bears.

Smith will be the first Bears coach since Mike Ditka, in Super Bowl XX, to take the Bears to the big game.

This will be the first time since Super Bowl V, when the Colts were led by quarterback Johnny Unitas and playing in Baltimore, that the Colts have been in position for an NFL championship ring.

Even though I believe defense wins championships, I am picking the Colts to beat the Bears 24-17.