You know it's not your typical NFL regular-season game when there are as many reporters on a CBS conference call to promote it (45) as there typically are for a Super Bowl. In fact, very few regular-season games even get conference calls.

Thankfully, CBS is not planning a whole lot of hoopla to build up Sunday's game between the New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts. It's the latest two undefeated teams have met since 1921. The game really doesn't need much more hype than that.

But others are more than willing to take up the slack. NFL Network will have 36 hours of coverage leading up to it, including replays of previous meetings and other games. ESPN has reporters following the two teams all week. Bill Parcells, who usually appears on the network on Monday, will work on "Sunday NFL Countdown." There's even an ESPN.com poll asking what the matchup should be called: "Brawl by the Brickyard," "Showtown in Naptown," "Super Bowl XLI" or "The Larry Bird Bowl."

CBS is also using the occasion to roll out a new gizmo called "FreezeCam," a replay tool that will enable the network to stop the action and zoom in on a particular point of the frame, such as the spot where a player's foot may have stepped out of bounds.

The teams have met before in significant games and are likely to do so again in this season's AFC Championship Game. The Colts and the Patriots are a classic confrontation for not only the previous competition they've had against each other, but also because of the distinct personalities. New England quarterback Tom Brady has already thrown a career-high 30 touchdown passes at the midway point of the season, looking to break the single-season mark of 49 held by Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning. Manning is not only still holding the reins of one of the NFL's best offenses, but continues to be one of the most marketable athletes of all time.

The most intriguing matchup, however, isn't on the field; it's on the sidelines. The two coaches — Tony Dungy of the Colts and Bill Belichick of the Patriots — have very different personalities. While both are fairly reserved on game day, Belichick has been accused this season of using video cameras to steal the signals of opposing teams' coaches, and of running up the score in games that were well in hand. Dungy, after winning the Super Bowl with the Colts last season, wrote "Quiet Strength," a book that details his life and career, paying particular emphasis on his Christian faith.

CBS analyst Phil Simms, who will be joined in Indianapolis by play-by-play man Jim Nantz, said the styles of the two coaches are markedly different.

"Jim and I have talked to Tony Dungy many times doing the games," Simms said. "He comes in and he talks to us and he's calm and talks to us that way and that's exactly how he talks to his players in meeting and practices. We go to their practices and you never hear the coaches say anything in practice. They talk in a very low tone of voice. The only person you really hear at an Indianapolis Colts practice is Peyton Manning because he is telling everyone what to do.

"(Dungy's) style is so different from Bill Belichick's. I asked Bill Belichick once before the Super Bowl down in Houston, How would you describe your coaching style?' And he says, I coach through fear. I tell people they better play better or I'll bench them or it will cost them their job.' That is how he learned. I don't know if he's still exactly that way, but he definitely has a different style than Tony Dungy. Their teams, the way the players act, you see it all. That's why it has caught the attention of America over the years because even if you don't follow football you can see the differences in the personalities of the coaches and the teams. You want to watch and see what is going to happen."

It's the game of the century — at least since three weeks ago when the Patriots beat the previously undefeated Dallas Cowboys.

At least we get to watch this one. Sunday's game is going to nearly the entire nation — only Houston will have the Texans-Raiders game instead. Three weeks ago, we got stuck with the Chargers and Raiders instead of the Cowboys and Patriots.

Sunday's game will also be on KLAC (570 AM).

— Staff writer Jim Carlisle covers TV-Radio and also writes Tuesday columns for The Star. E-mail address: jcarlisle@VenturaCountyStar.com. For more, please see his blog at jimcarlislesports.blogspot.com.