2020 Super Bowl squares strategy: How to win at football squares, top numbers to target

Mike Tierney has covered seven Super Bowls and shares the optimal football squares strategy

The 2020 Super Bowl between the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs takes place in just a few hours today, which means time is running out to participate in Super Bowl squares. Popular in office settings and at Super Bowl-watching parties, squares is a simple way to inject even more excitement into one of the world's most popular sporting events. With a little skill, the game can be profitable too.

Super Bowl squares is simple to set up. First, the organizer draws a grid that's 10 columns by 10 rows, resulting in 100 squares. One team, either the Niners or Chiefs, will be assigned the columns, while the other team will be assigned the rows. Finally, each column and row will be numbered zero to nine.

Players then select the square or squares they want. The winner will be the person who owns the box that corresponds to the last digit of each team's score. For example, if the final score in the Super Bowl were Kansas City 24, San Francisco 9, the person who owns the box with Kansas City four and San Francisco nine wins.

Some versions of Super Bowl squares randomly assigns the numbers until after each of the squares is spoken for, while others auction off each square. Some Super Bowl squares pay out only the final score of the game, while others do so after each quarter or every scoring play. There's a method to winning your Super Bowl squares, and SportsLine's Mike Tierney knows what it is.

Part of his success: Tierney is a seasoned veteran when it comes to covering the NFL. A national sportswriter whose work appears in The New York Times and Los Angeles Times, he has reported from seven Super Bowls. He knows what it takes to win at Super Bowl squares, and has several surprising strategies to give you an edge.

Tierney knows, for example, that the number four has cashed in four of the last seven Super Bowls and has appeared in 28.3 percent of the 53 previous Super Bowls. Tierney also knows that zero has been a winner 24.5 percent of the time in Super Bowls.

But Tierney knows there's a certain square that can land you a big payday in the 2020 Super Bowl between the 49ers and Chiefs. There is also a number that you need to avoid like the plague, appearing in just four final scores. He's sharing his Super Bowl squares strategy here.

So what numbers should you pay a premium for in your Super Bowl football pool, and in what combinations? Visit SportsLine now to get Mike Tierney's detailed Super Bowl squares strategy, all from the seasoned expert who's reported from seven Super Bowls, and find out.