That is, arguably, because no one has ever expected them to win before.
It seems captain Brendon McCullum and coach Mike Hesson appear to be at ease about going into the cup's opening match against Sri Lanka from 10.30am this Saturday in Christchurch, lugging a favourites' tag around their necks.
It's madness that the two sides have played seven ODIs in the build-up to the cup.
But it doesn't make it any less intriguing to see who wins on Saturday to put those warm-up games in perspective.
Ditto Australia v England from 4.15pm in the opening clash across the ditch in Melbourne.
I can't recall too many teams eager to play their cup oppositions so soon leading up to any tournament, actually.
What if New Zealand and Australia lose their opening matches?
Well, don't panic.
New Zealand, Australia, Sri Lanka and England should make the cull from pool A while India, South Africa, Pakistan and West Indies should emulate that feat in pool B, barring monumental upsets.
No disrespect intended to the likes of Bangladesh and Ireland, who have the propensity to upset the apple cart in a tourney where the unthinkable has happened.
The wickets in Australia and New Zealand will offer bounce and carry so, therefore, those teams who were keen to adapt did have the luxury of arriving earlier to acclimatise.
Spinners' impact will be limited to containment unless someone is capable of extracting prodigious turn. The ICC crackdown on "chuckers" has killed that.
Frankly there's more chance of teams and parent bodies turning on their coaches should things go awry.
However, the tweakers' mental fortitude will be tested because batsmen will go after them - baiting batsmen who are susceptible to a rush of blood to the head has always been part of spinners' portfolios.
Without doubt, the pacemen should enjoy the pitch conditions most in what is a batsman's paradise. Kiwi seamers will find more traction in Australia if they progress to the playoff phase.
That said, it's not a given for the speed merchants who will have to bend their backs for eight weeks on wickets where injudicious shots could easily clear boundaries.
It is here that the fitness of seamers, especially from the subcontinent, will come under scrutiny.
Will Pakistan's strike weapon, 2.16m Mohammad Irfan, be able to handle the jandal?
The Indians have been breaking down with regular consistency in Australia with Ishant Sharma jetting home.
Sri Lanka have wisely wrapped slinger Lasith Malinga in cotton wool so what the tourists will take to Christchurch and beyond remains to be seen.
The Proteas have the world's best ODI bowler in Dale Steyn while Morne Morkel is in the top 10. Vernon Philander is the wild card in their pack.
Don't mess with Trent Boult, Adam Milne and Tim Southee, even though they don't feature in the top 20.
So can the Black Caps win the cup?
Absolutely but it'll come down to the selectors' nous in picking the right combinations to counter oppositions.
Superstition aside, I have to agree with former Kiwi international Chris Pringle that certain things will have to go their way, controllables or otherwise.
History shows teams who have a slimmer chance of winning tend to find a greater sense of motivation to succeed.
That includes minnows, such as the UAE, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Ireland, winning a game.
In the batting department, it's not the Lottery-types' hit-and-miss innings that will pave the way to ecstasy.
It'll be the blokes who will bring stability to a side's innings - Hashim Amla, Kane Williamson, Rohit Sharma, Luke Ronchi, Eion Morgan, Kumara Sangakkara and George Bailey.
It's the humdrum of the 25 to 40-over stage these blokes will have to see through, provided they don't run out of partners at the other end.
In all the talk about bat and ball, it's easy to overlook fielding.
New Zealand have one of the best, although they need decent opposition to assess that tenacity.
The subcontinent players seem reluctant to hit the deck to save a run or boundary. Any team who shows that trait in the cup's crucial stages will have four more years to ponder on why things went horribly wrong for them here.
Of course, at the 2019 World Cup the variables in England will offer other diverse challenges.
