Who's No. 1? In Super Bowl XLVIII, aces are wild.

The Denver Broncos had the No. 1 offense in the regular season. The Seattle Seahawks had the No. 1 defense. Both teams were the No. 1 seeds in their conferences.

And the No. 1 story is Peyton Manning, returning to the Super Bowl for the third time and trying to earn his second ring. For the NFL, it doesn't get any better than that.

In the big picture, it's also an amazing shift. About four years ago, the AFC West and NFC West were the two worst divisions in the league. John Elway, who made the Broncos a Super Bowl contender as a player, has proved to be equally successful as a front-office executive.

He signed Manning, produced 13 regular-season wins in two consecutive years and now is hoping to get another ring.

Pete Carroll completely turned around the Seahawks, modeling the rebuild on his restoration of USC into a national power. He's going for his first Super Bowl win as a coach.

Here are the 10 most important questions for Super Bowl XLVIII.

1. Which team will be affected most by the New York-New Jersey weather? The hype during the next two weeks will be the weather and how it affects Manning. Cold weather does have a negative effect on Manning. Early forecasts indicate it will be around 37 degrees with a low of 19. Snow is also in the forecast.

During his career, Manning has had 15 regular-season games in temperatures below 40. His career 65.5 percent completion percentage drops to 63.7 and he has 14 interceptions in those 15 games. Things have gotten worse in the playoffs. He is a 56.4 percent passer in cold postseason games. The scary number is the interceptions. He has nine picks in playoff games where the temperature is less than 40 degrees.

Another alarming stat is his yards per attempt in those games (5.53). The cold air will affect his throws more now that he's older. His passes wobble a lot more than they did in his younger days. The Seahawks shouldn't be too affected. They are a team built to win with a ground attack and a great defense.

2. How will officiating affect the Super Bowl? Neither team should have any complaints in this one. Terry McAulay lets players play and doesn't litter the field with flags. He officiated the Seahawks-New Orleans Saints divisional-round game in Seattle. In that game, his crew called 15 penalties, 14 of which were accepted.

The umpire will be Carl Paganelli, which should warn both teams to be careful about offensive holding. Paganelli called two holding penalties each on the Saints and Seahawks.

Both teams should be able to get away with aggressive man-to-man coverage. Steve Freeman is the back judge. He did the Carolina-San Francisco divisional-round game. There was only one defensive pass interference penalty in that game. Officials are allowing extra grabbing by defensive backs. A classic example was how Patriots safety Devin McCourty mauled Broncos tight end Julius Thomas on a pass from the 10-yard line in the first quarter of the AFC Championship Game.

In 10 playoff games, only seven defensive pass interferences have been called. This should benefit the Seahawks, who play as aggressive man coverage as there is in football.

3. What are the injury situations? Denver running back Knowshon Moreno suffered a chest injury Sunday against the Patriots. Coach John Fox didn't sound too panicked about it. Of course, injuries have been a story for the Broncos all season. Five defensive starters and left tackle Ryan Clady have been lost for the season. By winning 13 regular-season games and advancing to the Super Bowl, the Broncos showed how resilient and well-coached they are.

The Seahawks hope to have wide receiver Percy Harvin available for the Super Bowl and there is a decent chance he will be. Harvin was scratched Sunday because of a concussion. Carroll said Harvin should clear concussion protocol by midweek and should be able to practice. Defensive tackle Michael Bennett and wide receiver Doug Baldwin were banged up Sunday but continued playing. The Seahawks should be in good shape for the game.