NEW YORK  —  While about equal numbers of Americans say they will be cheering for the New England Patriots (search) and for the Philadelphia Eagles (search ) during this weekend’s Super Bowl, more than twice as many believe when the game is over the Patriots will be the 2005 champions, according to a recent FOX News poll.

Overall, 35 percent of the public say they will be rooting for the Eagles during Sunday’s game and 33 percent for the Patriots, with the remaining one third saying neither or not sure. Among those living in the Northeast, the home region of both teams, the results are precisely split: 40 percent say they will be cheering for the Eagles and 40 percent for the Patriots.

When asked to set aside their team preference and predict which team will win, the results are much more decisive. The poll finds almost half of Americans (48 percent) say they believe the Patriots will be victorious and 22 percent pick the Eagles.

Northeasterners are even more likely to expect a win for the Patriots, as 61 percent think the New England team will be the Super Bowl champs compared to 22 percent that predict the Eagles.

About one in five Americans are happy to take advantage of a less-crowded movie theatre on game day and say they "don’t care" which team wins.

Opinion Dynamics Corporation conducted the national telephone poll of 900 registered voters for FOX News on January 25-26.

• Pdf: Click here for full poll results.

Watch Super Bowl XXXIX on your local FOX Broadcast network, Sunday, Feb. 6 at 6 p.m. ET.