Here’s a tasty, SEC-rooted image for Super Bowl Sunday: You’ve barely sat down to watch the Falcons’ first drive with your favorite food and drink, and here comes Patriots linebacker Dont’a Hightower flying across the middle of the field to take down Julio Jones as he stretches for a first down.

And now it’s on, isn’t it? The tiny battle of former SEC greats, and even better former Alabama greats drafted exactly one year apart, within the gargantuan tug of war being played out on the world stage at NRG Stadium in Houston.

Jones and Hightower, the former Tuscaloosa teammates trying to become the latest SEC star to capture a Super Bowl ring. It’s already a lengthy and illustrious list, and Hightower is already on it, having won one two years ago with the Patriots. On Sunday, the dynamic Jones will be yearning for a jewel of his own, stretching for that extra yard against a guy in Hightower with whom he won a national title in 2009.

Jones will be trying to get his name with those legions of other SEC legends who have captured ultimate NFL glory. The special list could literally go on forever, so we’ve narrowed it down to 20 men who went from SEC stardom to the NFL mountaintop, and in some cases multiple times, in the Super Bowl era. Here is that elite roster of names, complete with their Super Bowl statistics:

20. Gibril Wilson: The second-team All-SEC safety in 2003 out of Tennessee knocked down Tom Brady’s final desperation heave in Super Bowl 42, sealing the Giants’ victory and ending New England’s drive for perfection. He had 11 interceptions in four years with the Giants.

Super Bowl statistics: Super Bowl 42 — 3 tackles.

19. Percy Harvin: A king of versatility, this one as a receiver and return specialist, Harvin won two national titles at Florida and then helped the Seahawks blow out the Broncos to capture their first Super Bowl crown in 2013.

Super Bowl statistics: Super Bowl 48 — 2 carries, 45 yards; 1 catch, 5 yards.

18. Kevin Faulk: The LSU product and three-time first-team all-SEC running back was a mainstay of three Super Bowl-winning teams with the Patriots, spearheading those titles with his versatility, leadership and unselfishness.

Super Bowl statistics: Super Bowl 36 — 2 carries, 15 yards; Super Bowl 38 — 6 carries, 42 yards, and 4 catches, 19 yards; Super Bowl 39 — 8 carries, 38 yards, and 2 catches, 27 yards.

17. Deshea Townsend: The Alabama product was a fixture in the Steelers secondary for more than a decade, and his sack helped secure Pittsburgh’s victory over Seattle in Super Bowl 40. Townsend won another ring with the Steelers three years later in a reduced role.

Super Bowl statistics: Super Bowl 40 — Four passes defensed, 1 sack; Super Bowl 43 — Two tackles, one assist.

16. Kevin Butler: A member of the ’85 Bears team, the four-time All-SEC and two-time All-American kicker out of Georgia was steady as ever, and as a rookie no less, for that championship Chicago team. And he was perfect in that Super Bowl win over the Patriots.

Super Bowl statistics: Super Bowl 20 — 3-for-3 on field goals, 5-for-5 on extra points.

15. Dont’a Hightower: The linebacker won two national titles at Alabama and was a first-team All-SEC, and he’s been a winner in the pros, too, having already captured a Super Bowl ring two years ago and going for a second one Sunday with the Patriots.

Super Bowl statistics: Super Bowl 49 — Three solo tackles, two assisted tackles.

14. Joseph Addai: Addai is an LSU product who helped the Colts get over the hump and get Peyton Manning his first ring with his versatility in the backfield. Addai is one of the chosen few who won a national title (in 2003) and a Super Bowl crown (in 2006), though Addai was on the losing end of the big game when the Colts fell to the Saints in Super Bowl 44.

Super Bowl statistics: Super Bowl 41 — 19 carries, 77 yards, and 10 catches, 66 yards; Super Bowl 44* — 13 carries, 77 yards, 1 TD, and 7 catches, 58 yards.

13. Anthony “Booger” McFarland: The former LSU star defensive tackle has come full circle as an analyst for SEC Network. But in between playing in and analyzing the SEC, McFarland won two Super Bowl titles for two teams, helping the 2002 Buccaneers and the 2006 Colts win championships. McFarland was, however, limited to 10 games in 2002 because of a broken right foot sustained in mid-December of that season and missed the Bucs’ playoff run.

Super Bowl statistics: Super Bowl 37 — out with broken foot; Super Bowl 41 — 1 sack.

12. Willie Gault: Everybody talked about the ferocious defense and Walter Payton on that 1985 Bears team, but the speedster All-American Gault out of Tennessee continually exploited defenses that stacked the line to stop “Sweetness.”

Super Bowl statistics: Super Bowl 20 — 4 catches, 129 yards.

11. Alan Faneca: The nine-time Pro Bowl guard came out of LSU, where he was a two-time first-team All-SEC in the late 1990s, and he was an anchor of the Steelers offensive line for a decade, winning that elusive Super Bowl ring in 2005.

10. Hines Ward: Ward was only a third-round draft pick despite having a stellar career at Georgia, but he turned into one of the most versatile receivers of all-time. Ward could catch it anywhere, run, and he could block with the best, and he led the Steelers to two Super Bowl titles during a 14-year career played solely in Pittsburgh. Ward was the MVP of Super Bowl 40, the first of the two titles.

Super Bowl statistics: Super Bowl 40 — 5 catches, 123 yards, 1 TD; Super Bowl 43 — 2 catches, 43 yards.

9. Wilber Marshall: The three-time first-team All-SEC linebacker out of Florida won Super Bowls with two teams. He was part of arguably the greatest defense (and team) ever, helping the 1985 Chicago Bears romp their way to glory, then six years later helped the Redskins win their third title of the Joe Gibbs Era.

Super Bowl statistics: Super Bowl 20 — 0.5 sack, 1 fumble recovery for 13 yards; Super Bowl 26 — 1 sack.

8. Eli Manning: Manning hasn’t had the career big brother Peyton had, but the former Ole Miss star has as many Super Bowl rings — Peyton had to win one last season before he retired just to even things at 2-2 between the brothers.

Not only does Eli have two rings, but they both came at the expense of Tom Brady’s Patriots, including the iconic play where he dodged about 10 Patriots to avoid a sack and threw the completion to David Tyree that set up the winning touchdown and spoiled New England’s perfect season.

Four years later, Manning did it to the Patriots again as a heavy underdog on the biggest stage.

Super Bowl statistics: Super Bowl 42 — 19 of 34, 255 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT; Super Bowl 46 — 30 of 40, 296 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT.

7. Jim Taylor: Taylor was first-team All-SEC in 1957 at LSU, where he shared the backfield with Billy Cannon. In Green Bay, he shared it with Paul Hornung. Not bad.

Tayor won four NFL titles in all with those legendary Packers teams of the 1960s, and his last crown came in the first Super Bowl in 1966 as he capped his Hall of Fame career with a victory over the Kansas City Chiefs.

Super Bowl statistics: Super Bowl 1 — 17 carries, 56 yards, 1 TD.

6. Ken Stabler: Another Alabama quarterback to reach NFL’s promised land, “The Snake” was the left-hander who surgically destroyed defenses for the Raiders in the 1970s. In the middle of his decade-long reign as Oakland’s quarterback, Stabler led the Raiders to victory in Super Bowl 11, as the Vikings were no match that day at the Rose Bowl.

Stabler, who was 28-3-2 as a starter at Alabama, was elected posthumously to the Pro Football Hall of Fame last year.

Super Bowl statistics: Super Bowl 11 — 12 of 19, 180 yards, 1 TD.

5. Terrell Davis: The Georgia Bulldog had a short NFL career, but he squeezed so much out of it. Davis was the engine who led the Denver Broncos to two Super Bowl titles and subsequently gave legendary quarterback John Elway his proper career sendoff.

Davis was the MVP of Super Bowl 32, piling up 157 yards to help the AFC win its first Super Bowl since the Raiders won it all in 1983.

His nickname “T.D.” was short for touchdown, and his patented “Mile High Salute” became a calling card for a sixth-round pick who ran downhill to championship greatness.

Super Bowl statistics: Super Bowl 32 — 30 carries, 157 yards, 3 TDs; Super Bowl 33 — 25 carries, 102 yards, 0 TD.

4. Joe Namath: The cool, brash gunslinger out of Alabama only played in one Super Bowl, but he sure made it count. Namath’s famous victory guarantee became the stuff of legends just days later when he led the New York Jets to a stunning 16-7 victory over the heavily favored Baltimore Colts at the Orange Bowl.

Namath led the Crimson Tide to a national title in 1964 and four years later had the underdogs from the Big Apple on top of the pro football world.

Super Bowl statistics: Super Bowl 3 — 17 of 28, 206 yards, 0 TDs, 0 INTs.

3. Emmitt Smith: Smith blazed a trail of greatness at Florida in the late 1980s, then was the patient, methodical star running back on three Super Bowl championship teams in Dallas. When he was all done after 15 NFL seasons, Smith was the NFL’s all-time leading rusher with 18,355 yards.

He helped the Cowboys win those three Super Bowls in a four-year span between 1992-95 and was the MVP of the second of those Super Bowl victories, piling up 132 yards on 30 carries with two touchdowns as Dallas denied Buffalo in its fourth straight trip to the big game.

The epic performance on Jan. 30, 1994, ironically came at the Georgia Dome, which would begin hosting the SEC title game about 10 months later (a game won by Smith’s Gators over Alabama) and which hosted its final football game a few weeks ago as the Super Bowl-bound Falcons closed the place with their NFC Championship Game victory.

Super Bowl statistics: Super Bowl 27 — 22 carries, 108 yards, 1 TD; Super Bowl 28 — 30 carries, 132 yards, 2 TDs; Super Bowl 30 — 18 carries, 49 yards, 2 TDs.

2. Reggie White: After numerous fruitless trips to the playoffs during his prime years with the Eagles, this Tennessee football hero finally got to pro football’s promised land as a still-feared veteran rusher with the Green Bay Packers.

The Minister of Defense helped the Pack take down Drew Bledsoe’s Patriots in New Orleans in that 1996 season’s Super Bowl, getting stronger as the game went on and finishing off New England with a sack of Bledsoe and a celebration dance to match it.

He had a Super Bowl-record three sacks that night and, at last, one of the NFL’s all-time best defensive players had his ring.

The 13-time Pro Bowler and 10-time First-Team All-Pro got back to the Super Bowl the following season, but the Packers were upset by the Broncos and another former SEC star in our countdown, running back Terrell Davis.

Super Bowl statistics: Super Bowl 31 — three sacks; Super Bowl 32* — zero sacks.

1. Peyton Manning: After his legendary college career at Tennessee, the Colts took Manning with the No. 1 pick in the 1998 draft and figured he would produce a Super Bowl victory sooner than later. But that’s not the way the story went.

Manning had problems with the Patriots in the playoffs early in his career and didn’t even get to a Super Bowl until the 2006 season, when he cashed in by leading Indianapolis to victory over Chicago.

It was his only crown with Indy though, as Manning’s Colts lost to the Saints in the 2009 Super Bowl, in the same stadium in Miami where he got his ultimate triumph three years earlier.

But after those neck woes, there was a second Super Bowl chapter for Manning in Denver. He led the Broncos to the big game in the 2013 season, but Denver and Manning were demolished by that great Seattle defense at the Meadowlands.

A lesser-armed but no less football-wise Manning went out in ultimate style after the 2015 season, directing (some would say managing) a defense-led Broncos team to a Super Bowl victory over Carolina to cap his Hall of Fame career with two Super triumphs — and those two big game losses.

The man who loved to sing Rocky Top went out on top.

Super Bowl statistics: Super Bowl 41 — 25 of 38, 247 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT; Super Bowl 44* — 31 of 45, 333 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT; Super Bowl 48* — 34 of 49, 280 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT; Super Bowl 50 — 13 of 23, 141 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT.

* denotes Super Bowl loss