Super Bowl 50 is Sunday, and one of the more interesting subplots from the game involves the Southeastern Conference.

With Peyton Manning and the AFC-champion Denver Broncos set to square off with Cam Newton and the NFC-best Carolina Panthers, this will be the third time in NFL history that two ex-SEC quarterbacks face each other for the title. While Manning is a seven-time All-Pro — he’s on the short list of greatest QBs to play the game — Newton is the likely MVP this year and redefining the position before our very eyes.

Should Newton emerge victorious in Santa Clara, he will become the sixth signal caller in SEC history to hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

Manning, of course, is also one of the more decorated signal callers to ever lace ’em up in the conference, as his 89 touchdown passes during his tenure at Tennessee still rank third all time in the league. Newton’s career at Auburn only lasted one season — he had to pass through Florida and Blinn College first — but his 51-total-TD performance in 2010 was among the most dominant we’ve ever seen.

Here are the 10 best NFL quarterbacks that came from the SEC, ignoring college accomplishments and ranking them exclusively on their professional résumés.

T-10. Jay Cutler/Matthew Stafford

Cutler and Stafford are essentially the same player: uber-talented gunslingers with cannon-like arms, fantasy-friendly stats, contracts on par with the GDP of Madagascar … and almost nothing to show for it.

Selected 11th overall by the Denver Broncos in the 2006 NFL Draft, Cutler played from 2002-05 at Vanderbilt. Stafford spent 2006-08 at Georgia, eventually being taken No. 1 in the 2009 draft by the Detroit Lions.

A Pro Bowler in 2008 after throwing for a career-high 4,526 yards, Cutler was surprisingly traded the following offseason to the Chicago Bears. While he’s statistically the best QB to ever play in the Windy City, that’s not much of a compliment — few franchises have struggled more to find reliable play under center historically. Now a 10-year NFL veteran, he’s made a grand total of one appearance in the playoffs.

One of the best in the league when measured purely by arm skills, Stafford has started every game in the Motor City the past five seasons and never thrown for fewer than 4,257 yards during that time — his 5,038 yards in 2011 are the eighth most ever. While he has made two Pro Bowls and taken his organization to the postseason twice in seven years, both times he was one-and-done despite a pair of 300-yard outings.

Cutler played very well in 2015 even with another new offensive coordinator and tons of injuries to his receiving corps. Stafford’s prospects for 2016 certainly take a hit if Calvin Johnson does indeed retire.

9. Archie Manning

The second choice in the 1971 draft out of Ole Miss, Manning was a lot better than his career 35-101-3 record in the pros would indicate.

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Stuck playing for arguably the worst franchise the league had seen up until that point, Manning got his brains beat in — he was sacked more than any other quarterback three times in his first five seasons — during 11-plus miserable years with the New Orleans Saints from 1971-82. He still managed to make back-to-back Pro Bowls in ’78 and ’79, even though he never went better than .500 on the bayou.

That Crescent City voodoo must have followed him to the Houston Oilers and Minnesota Vikings. Manning was a combined 0-10 as a starter for those two franchises.

8. Cam Newton

Drafted No. 1 overall by the Carolina Panthers in 2011 after winning a national championship and a Heisman Trophy at Auburn, Newton burst onto the scene with 400-yard passing days in each of his first two career starts.

He was hot and cold his initial four seasons in the league, as his touchdown-to-interception ratio was a pedestrian 82-to-54, but Newton threw for a career-high 35 TDs in 2015 against a career-low 10 INTs. If he were to win the Super Bowl in additon to MVP honors — he’s pretty much a lock for that award — it would be hard not to consider him the best player in the game today.

Newton’s 43 rushing scores as a QB are already tied with Hall of Famer Steve Young for the most in NFL history, as he’s just about unstoppable in short-yardage and goal-line situations.

7. Y.A. Tittle

One of the mythological warriors in NFL annals, Tittle was originally the sixth pick in the 1948 draft out of LSU to the Detroit Lions.

In a 17-year career with the Baltimore Colts, San Francisco 49ers and New York Giants, Tittle was a seven-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro — the former Tiger was enshrined in Canton in 1971. At one time or another, he led the league in completions, attempts, completion percentage, touchdown passes, yards per attempt, yards per completion and passer rating, posting a 104.8 mark in 1963 at the age of 37.

Unfortunately, Tittle was never able to carry any of his regular-season success into the playoffs, as he was winless in four postseason starts.

6. Ken Stabler

A unique personality on a team full of colorful characters, Stabler came to the Oakland Raiders out of Alabama as a second-round pick in the 1968 draft.

He suited up in silver and black for 10 years and made four Pro Bowls and one All-Pro team playing for coach John Madden, highlighted by a Super Bowl title in the 1976 season … against Georgia’s Fran Tarkenton. Stabler was 7-4 in the playoffs with the Raiders — 0-1 later with the Houston Oilers, however — and emerged victorious in at least one postseason contest every season in Oakland from 1973-77.

Stabler was a three-time finalist for the Hall of Fame but never got the votes, although his 194 career touchdown passes are more than enshrinees Bob Griese, Sammy Baugh and Otto Graham.

5. Eli Manning

The top pick in the 2004 draft out of Ole Miss, Manning was selected by the San Diego Chargers but dealt to the New York Giants.

His career in the pros has been difficult to judge — he’s better than his father, not as good as his brother — because he isn’t a yearly staple in the playoffs and has led the league in interceptions three times. But quarterbacks with hardware are always worthy of respect, and you can’t take away the two Vince Lombardi trophies Manning has brought back to the No. 1 media market in the country.

Manning’s two Big Game victories are among the biggest upsets in NFL history. Especially Super Bowl XLII, when he beat an undefeated New England Patriots squad that was making a case for the best of all time.

4. Joe Namath

Speaking of upsets, Namath engineered what many believe to be the biggest shocker in NFL lore when he led the underdog New York Jets to a 16-7 win over the 18-point-favorite Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III.

Namath’s numbers weren’t overly impressive. He only completed 50.1 percent of his passes. He threw way more interceptions (220) than touchdowns (173). His career 65.8 passer rating is worse than Richard Todd’s 68.6, Mark Sanchez’s 71.7 and Geno Smith’s 72.3. But he became perhaps the single most important player in the post-merger era once he waved his finger in the air on the way back to the Orange Bowl locker room.

Also, if not for Namath — the No. 1 pick out of Alabama in the 1965 AFL Draft, by the way — modern-day stars like Tom Brady might not be viewed as sex symbols in addition to football players.

3. Fran Tarkenton

A product of Georgia, Tarkenton was a third-rounder of the Minnesota Vikings in the 1961 NFL Draft and a fifth-rounder of the Boston Patriots in the AFL Draft that same year.

Statistically dominant like few signal callers before him, Tarkenton led the league in completions three times, attempts twice, completion percentage twice and then once each for yards, touchdowns and passer rating. One of the original mad scramblers at the game’s most important position — anybody who grew up watching NFL Films knows that — he finished his career with 3,674 yards and 32 TDs as a runner.

The nine-time Pro Bowler, one-time All-Pro and Hall of Fame inductee is still sixth all time in passing touchdowns (342) and eighth in passing yards (47,003) despite hanging up his spikes in 1978, although he never did win a Super Bowl.

2. Bart Starr

While the Green Bay Packers chose Starr in the 1956 NFL Draft out of Alabama, they waited until the 17th round and the 200th-overall selection to finally do so.

One of the ultimate winners the game has ever known under center — granted, that can be said of many players coached by the legendary Vince Lombardi — he directed the Pack to NFL titles in 1961, 1962 and 1965 before capturing Super Bowls I and II in 1966-67. Starr lost his first postseason start in ’60, but he ran the table the rest of his career and finished with a TD-to-INT ratio of 15-to-3 in the playoffs.

A four-time Pro Bowler and one-time All-Pro, Starr was a no-brainer for Canton in 1977.

1. Peyton Manning

Chosen No. 1 overall in the 1998 draft out of Tennessee, it’s comical to look back and remember that some talent evaluators had Manning behind Ryan Leaf, who is on the Mount Rushmore of all-time NFL busts.

In 14 years with the Indianapolis Colts, Manning led the league in completions, touchdown passes and passer rating three times each. Following some prior disappointments in the playoffs, he finally won a Super Bowl in 2006 … against Florida’s Rex Grossman. After health concerns forced Indy to turn the page in favor of Andrew Luck in 2012, Manning signed with the Denver Broncos and set single-season records in 2013 with 5,477 yards and 55 TDs.

Although he is just 13-13 in the playoffs — and 1-2 in Super Bowls — if a not-what-he-once-was Manning finds a way to top Newton and the Panthers, it may be one of the best storybook endings in sports history.