Future SEC stars look to take the college football world by storm during bowl season, while current stars look to cement their legacies.

(Yes, we’re all thinking about the same play, so let’s address it now.)

Jadeveon Clowney’s hit against Michigan’s Vincent Smith in the 2013 Outback Bowl.

Clowney’s hit is the defining play of an SEC star cementing his legacy — or perhaps sending it so far into the stratosphere he could never live up — this decade.

The only thing that could resemble the folk hero Clowney made himself on New Year’s Day nearly two years ago are some of the mesmerizing moments a kid named Johnny provided the SEC. We see the astronomical expectations Clowney and Manziel carried into the NFL.

Bowl season is the pinnacle of the college football season. The best players on the best teams are showcased. Oftentimes the best players step up on the biggest stage.

SEC stars such as Shane Ray, Markus Golden, Nick Marshall, Nick Chubb, Amari Cooper, T.J. Yeldon, Dak Prescott, Senquez Golson, Leonard Fournette and more all have opportunities to secure legacies or make names for themselves on national stages.

There’s a reason the SEC is the strongest conference in the sport. It lands the best recruits, fields the best teams and produces the best performances consistently.

Cooper has recorded four games of 150 receiving yards or more. Ray and Golden top the SEC in sacks. Chubb rushed for nearly 1,000 yards in seven games taking over for Todd Gurley. Golson ranks second in the FBS in interceptions.

Seven SEC teams play on New Year’s Eve or later. That’s when the lights shine brightest and — just like Clowney in 2013 — others before him and surely others to come, the best of the best are born during bowl season.