Super Bowl 2018 date, tickets, half-time show news: Who are the top contenders and headliners?

With just over a month away before Super Bowl 52, there is a lot of clamor for tickets and details about the highly anticipated National Football League annual championship game, happening at the U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota in early February.

As in previous years, the 52<sup>nd Super Bowl will pit the American Football Conference (AFC) champion against that of the National Football Conference (NFC).

Currently leading the AFC bracket are New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers, while the Philadelphia Eagles have led the NFC division throughout the conference. However, there is one week yet in the NFL 2017 season, and anything can happen.

For the AFC, a playoff is still open for the Baltimore Ravens and the Tennessee Titans, depending on how well they perform in their next games.

In the NFC bracket, the Minnesota Vikings still have a chance for a first-round bye, so do the Carolina Panthers. The Atlanta Falcons, meanwhile, can make it to playoffs, granted they win against the New Orleans Saints on Week 17.

Full team standing and chances can be viewed here.

As for the equally much-awaited half-time show, it was earlier announced that multi-Grammy award winner Justin Timberlake will be performing, 14 years after his infamous performance with Janet Jackson.

In 2004, the "Mirror" singer accidentally pullet off part of Jackson's costume while performing "Rock Your Body," revealing her right breast on national television. This caused the Federal Communications Commission to impose a five-second delay for live TV performances.

Timberlake first performed for the Super Bowl halftime in 2001, with his now disbanded boy group NSYNC.

His performance for the 2018 Super Bowl was announced on Oct. 22 via a silly skit, which Timberlake did with late-night host Jimmy Fallon.

I DO have the time. Half the time...#PepsiHalftime #SBLII @Pepsi @NFL @JimmyFallon @FallonTonight pic.twitter.com/4Z4Dz29l3X

— Justin Timberlake (@jtimberlake) October 23, 2017 " data-caption="null" data-credit="null">

Tickets to the big game are normally raffled off a year before. Those who missed it can still try checking out various ticketing websites for rates and special packages.

Super Bowl 52 will air on Feb. 4, 2018 at 6:15 p.m. EST on NBC.

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