It’s rapidly becoming my favorite part about the annual ritual that is America’s Super Bowl.

No, I’m not talking about the television commercials, although they are generally amusing. Nor am I talking about the halftime show, which over the years has provided such memories as Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction and Katy Perry’s adorably underachieving Left Shark.

And I’m not even talking about the game. Which, let’s face it, more often than not is about as entertaining as an episode of “Fuller House.”

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Rather, I’m referring to the growing trend of having various animals predict the outcome of the big game. I mean, seriously. You can’t swing a dead cat these days without hitting yet another animal weighing in on who’s going to win. (Speaking of which, rumor has it that in one small Mississippi town they actually predicted the winner by … swinging a dead cat.)

Every year, more and more zoos, sanctuaries and other animal organizations are getting into the Super Bowl prognostication business, usually by giving a furry friend two food and/or play choices, each representing one of the competing teams, and seeing which one it goes for first.

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Consider just this small sampling of this year’s predictions for Sunday’s game between the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons:

• In Virginia, a chicken named Darla — wearing a pink tutu — picked the Patriots to win.

• In South Carolina, a tiger at Myrtle Beach Safari picked the Falcons to win.

• In Dallas, Texas, a cute, cooing porcupine named Teddy Bear picked the Patriots.

• At the Memphis Zoo in Tennessee, Le Le the panda picked the Falcons.

• At Tony La Russa’s Animal Rescue Foundation in Walnut Creek, California, three dogs and five kittens picked the Patriots.

• In Georgia, the groundhog Gen. Beauregard Lee killed two birds with one stone — picking both an early spring and a Falcons win.

• At the Fresno Chaffee Zoo in California, a lion chose the Patriots.

• At the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida, manatees Hugh and Buffett were evenly split, with one picking the Falcons and the other the Pats.

• At the Cincinnati Zoo in Ohio, some mountain lions and giraffes and stuff picked the Falcons.

• At ZooMontana in Billings, Ozzy the grizzly bear chose the Patriots.

• At the Montgomery Zoo in Alabama, Star the elephant picked the Falcons.

• At the Museum of Science in Boston, Munake the woodchuck picked the Patriots.

• And at Utah’s very own Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City, Acara the orangutan picked the Falcons.

Are you sensing a pattern here? Because it would appear animals are about as good at picking Super Bowl winners as they are at long division.

Not that it even matters who wins the game. In the post-reality society we now find ourselves in — where alternative facts are every bit as valid as the good old-fashioned actual facts — the winner can be anyone you want it to be.

Really wanted to see the Tennessee Titans defeat the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXIV? Just tell yourself former Utah Ute Kevin Dyson didn’t come up 1 yard short of the end zone on the game’s final play, and that the Titans went on to win that game. Think the New England Patriots didn’t intercept the Seattle Seahawks at the goal line to preserve the win in Super Bowl XLIX? Simply insist that it never happened.

And the best part is, this technique works for any of the Super Bowl matchups. Well, except for San Francisco’s 55-10 blowout of Denver back in 1990. Sorry, Bronco fans, but no amount of fake news can change that harsh reality.

Not to be outdone by all the fortune-telling creatures at this time of year, this past week I decided to give our family cat, Sebastian, a shot at picking the winner. Two bowls of dry cat food were placed at opposite ends of the garage — each labeled with either a “Patriots” or “Falcons” yellow Post-It Note.

Of course, the plan went awry when Sebastian simply sniffed at each bowl before turning up his nose and going off to lick himself.

Undeterred, we moved on to Plan B: Boris the Box Elder Bug.

Pretty much year-round, there is an abundance of box elder bugs in our house. There are also two small crevices where the window meets the sill in the half-bath just off our kitchen. Using the same two Post-It Notes, I christened one crack “Patriots” and the other “Falcons.” Then I positioned Boris on the sill between the two cracks, and set him to scurrying.

He immediately made a beeline for the Pats crack, wedging himself back in as far as he could go.

So there you have it, sports fans. The New England Patriots will win Super Bowl LI.

But whatever the outcome, to my dying day I’ll still be insisting the Falcons won — because, frankly, I’ve never much cared for Bill Belichick, and recent events in this country have further soured me on the whole idea of patriots.

Contact Mark Saal at 801-625-4272, or msaal@standard.net. Follow him on Twitter at @Saalman. Like him on Facebook at facebook.com/SEMarkSaal.