The Super Bowl is designed to have the two best teams in football play each other in the final game of the season, but that often isn't the case. What the Super Bowl really is is the best team from the National Football Conference and the best team from the American Football Conference playing each other. And even then that isn't always the case, it's really just whichever team wins the playoff tournament in each respective conferences.

While we've had some great Super Bowl matchups from the past 50 years there are plenty of "what-if" Super Bowls that could have been incredibly epic. For Super Bowl historians, here are what I think are 10 great Super Bowls that never happened in no particular order.

1. 49ers vs. Chargers, 1981

Two of the most groundbreaking offenses in NFL History played at around the same time. Bill Walsh's West Coast Offense for the San Francisco 49ers and the San Diego Chargers Air Coryell passing attack have basically become the offensive blueprint for the entire league.

It would have made a terrific Super Bowl when both teams made their conference title games in 1981. While the 49ers won theirs in one of the greatest games of all-time with Dwight Clark's "The Catch", the Chargers were forced to go play the AFC title game in Cincinnati one of the coldest games ever. With wind chills under 20 degrees and dubbed "The Freezer Bowl" the Chargers had no shot against the Bengals and lost.

The two teams would get to play each other in the Super Bowl 13 years later in Super Bowl 29, where San Francisco won 49-26.

2. Raiders vs. Cowboys, 1967-1983

9 of the first 18 Super Bowls featured either the Cowboys or the Raiders, so it is mind-boggling that they never met each other in a single one.

There were 6 occasions in which both teams were in their Conference Championship game but none of those times did it result with both of them winning.

The Cowboys and Raiders we’re two of the most popular franchises during the 1970s. Dallas was dubbed as “America’s Team” with their white jerseys and the blue star on the helmet. Oakland wore the Silver and Black and we’re the self-proclaimed villains of the NFL.

Think of the contradictions with these teams:

Roger Staubach, the clean-cut veteran with Christian values and labeled as Captain America. Kenny Stabler, the long-haired and bearded bad-boy who would go out to drink and party all the time, even on days before games, and nicknamed "The Snake".

Tom Landry, the stoic and determined leader of the Cowboys who paced slowly around the sidelines in a suit with a stetson hat. John Madden, the young and rambunctious coach of the Raiders who ran all around the sidelines and yelling at the refs.

Al Davis vs. Tex Schramm

Randy White and Hollywood Henderson vs. Gene Upshaw and Art Shell

Drew Pearson vs. Fred Biletnikoff

I am drooling thinking about the 70s Cowboys vs. Raiders Super Bowl right now.

3. Jaguars vs. Panthers, 1996

You’re probably too young to remember football in the mid-90s but imagine two new expansion franchises arriving in the NFL in 2018. Now imagine if BOTH teams made it all the way to the Super Bowl in 2019?

In 1996 that nearly happened when the 1995 expansion teams Jacksonville Jaguars and Carolina Panthers BOTH made it all the way to their conference championship games.

Unfortunately, both teams lost. But imagine how crazy things would get if the Super Bowl was between two expansion teams? It would be one of the greatest events in the history of American sports.

4. Montana vs. Young, 1993-94

The biggest football drama in the late-80s and early-90s was the quarterback controversy between Joe Montana and Steve Young of the San Francisco 49ers.

Joe Montana was the incumbent starter who won 4 Super Bowls while Steve Young was the "young" quarterback right behind him, waiting for a chance to start. An injury to Montana in the 1990 NFC Championship game kept him out of action for nearly two seasons, allowing Young to step in and become the incumbent starter.

Montana would then be traded to the Kansa City Chiefs where he guided them to the 1993 AFC Championship Game before losing to the Buffalo Bills. Steve Young led the 49ers to the NFC Championship Game that year too but lost to the Cowboys. The 49ers did make it the Super Bowl in 1994 but the Chiefs were eliminated in the first round in what would be Joe Montana's final season.

Had Montana's Chiefs and Young's 49ers played each other in a Super Bowl, it would be one of the greatest dramas in NFL history. Could you imagine arguing Tom Brady being the best quarterback ever if Montana had 5 Super Bowl rings and his last was won against his former team?

5. Ravens vs. Rams 2000

The 2000 Ravens and the Greatest Show on Turf Rams is the kind of Dream Match you’d want to play on a video game.

Led by the legendary Ray Lewis, the 2000 Ravens to this day are considered one of the greatest defenses of all-time. They suffocated their opponents all the way to their first Super Bowl title, just five years after moving from Cleveland to Baltimore (Sorry Browns fans, again.)

The then-St. Louis Rams entered the 2000 season as the defending Super Bowl champions with one of the greatest offenses of all-time. Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk, and Orlando Pace are already enshrined in the Hall Of Fame and receivers like Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt could follow.

While the Rams were the most talented team in the NFC in 2000, quarterback Kurt Warner missed 5 games with a broken hand and the Rams were forced down as a wild card in the playoffs, losing on the road to the Saints in the first round. Had Warner been healthy all year, maybe the Rams return to the Super Bowl (as they did the next year) and go up against the great defense of the Ravens.

6. 49ers vs. Bills, 1988-1994

For seven straight years, ESPN personality and Buffalo native Chris Berman predicted a 49ers vs. Bills Super Bowl matchup, and it never happened.

From 1988-1994 either the Bills or the 49ers were in the Super Bowl, and never did they play each other. There were four different occasions where they were both in the conference title game as well. The closest a Bills vs. 49ers Super Bowl happened was in 1990 where San Francisco barely lost to the Giants 15-13.

In 1992 these two faced off in the regular season in a classic shoot-out won by the Bills in which there we're no punts. Take that game to a Super Bowl stage and you have one of the great game of all-time.

When the Bills run of four straight Super Bowls ended, the 49ers finally got past the Cowboys in the NFC Championship game and won the Super Bowl against the Chargers in 1994, just missing out on Buffalo.

7. The Manning Bowl, 2005-2015

The Giants and Colts faced off in the 1958 NFL Championship Game that is labeled “The Greatest Game Ever Played” and was the first game to go into Sudden Death Overtime.

The only thing that could have topped that is if the two teams met again in a Super Bowl between brothers Peyton and Eli Manning.

Peyton, the greatest regular season quarterback of all-time, would've had his hands full against a Giant defense that tormented Tom Brady twice.

Eli, who's been up and down in his regular season career, had two masterful performances two Super Bowls. Playing against his brother would probably lead to another iconic performance.

The closest these two really came to play each other in a Super Bowl was 2007, where the Colts were upset in the division round by the Chargers and Eli's Giants went all the way for the famous upset against the 19-0 Patriots.

8. Dolphins vs. Bears, 1985

The ‘85 Bears are considered the most dominant team of all-time, and their only defeat that season was the famous Monday Night Football game in Miami where the Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino figured out Chicago’s suffocating defense with a 38-24 win.

So why didn’t these two meet for a rematch in the Super Bowl?

Because of the stinkin New England Patriots.

No, not THOSE Patriots we all know of today. Yes, kids, a long time ago the Patriots were just another football team that wore red and white jerseys and their logo was a Revolutionary War soldier hiking a football. The 1985 Patriots were a wild card team that magically got passed the Raiders and Dolphins to reach their first of ten Super Bowl Appearance. New England would get DESTROYED by the ‘85 Bears in one of the worst Super Bowls ever.

It’s a shame Marino and the Dolphins couldn’t get past New England to play the Bears instead as it would make for an epic rematch. Would Chicago avenge their only loss of the year and crown themselves as the greatest team of all-time? Or would Marino crown himself as the greatest quarterback of all-time having beat the '85 Bears twice and getting the Super Bowl ring he never won?

9. Eagles vs. Steelers, 2001, 2004, 2008, 2017.

Due to the shortage of players from service in World War II, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles merged together in 1943 for one season as the Pennsylvania Steagles.

The opportunities for a Keystone Steagles Super Bowl have come up short each time. 1980 was the year the Steelers dynasty ended, while the Eagles turned things around and reached their first Super Bowl. Then in 2001, both teams lost in the conference title games. The Steelers lost to the Patriots again in the 2004 AFC championship game while the Eagles won theirs. The Eagles almost beat the Cardinals in the 2008 title game when the Steelers won theirs. And this season Pittsburgh was upset by the Jaguars in the playoffs while Philadelphia is in the Super Bowl.

10. Brady vs. Rodgers 2010-Present

In 1996, Brett Farve of the Packers and the Drew Bledsoe of the Patriots faced each other in Super Bowl 31. 22 years later, the two quarterbacks who replaced Farve and Bledsoe have become arguably the two greatest quarterbacks of all-time.

Brady is considered the most accomplished and winningest quarterback of all-time, while Rodgers is considered the most talented to ever play the position.

Just as basketball fans wish they could have seen an NBA finals between Kobe and LeBron, football fans hope to see a Super Bowl between Brady and Rodgers.

This dream Super Bowl has nearly happened so many times.

In 2010, the year Rodgers led the Packers to the Super Bowl, the Patriots were the Number 1 seed in the AFC but got upset in the playoffs by Mark Sanchez(!) and the Jets.

In 2011 Brady got the Patriots to the Super Bowl, but the 15-1 one-seeded Packers got upset by a 9-7 Giants team.

In 2014 the Packers had a Super Bowl berth in the bag before an epic collapse against the Seatle Seahawks, while New England cruised in their title game.

And last year, once again, both teams were in their conference title game, only one got in, the Patriots.

Thankfully, this is a Super Bowl that can still happen, but if it does it needs to be soon.