by Peter Schrager

The same could be said two years ago when we had Tony Dungy and Peyton Manning, coming off a magical comeback in the AFC Championship Game and each in his first Super Bowl. In 2005, you had enough Bill Cowher and Jerome Bettis storylines to write a novel.

Yes, the Super Bowl "storylines" — the stuff that makes Media Day and the overall madness of media week rattle and hum.

Now that we're down to Conference Championship weekend, it's time to start laying out all the possible plotlines. We have four possible Super Bowl pairings. Which ones will generate the most intriguing storylines and interest in the weeks leading up to the big game?

Let's rank them in descending order.

4. Baltimore vs. Arizona

Slogan: "Birds of Different Feathers"

Nielsen DMA Media Market Rankings: Baltimore (26), Phoenix (12)

Storyline No. 1 — Old Man vs. Young Boy: Kurt Warner, a two-time MVP and a two-time Super Bowl participant, rises from the ashes to lead a fiery young team from Phoenix against Joe Flacco, the first rookie quarterback to lead a team to the Super Bowl.

Ordinal out of range

Storyline No. 2 — Passing Game vs. The Passing D: No one can seem to figure out how to stop the Arizona passing game. If ever there was a unit to give Kurt Warner fits, it's Ed Reed and his fellow D-backs. With Anquan Boldin likely healthy for the Super Bowl, this should be a classic battle of two of the league's most explosive units.

Other angles: If this were the matchup, be ready for a story on Cardinals tight end Ben Patrick and Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco, Delaware teammates in 2007. I'm sure someone would whip up a bunch of stuff on the last time the Super Bowl was in Tampa — Ray Lewis won the MVP Award and the Ravens won the whole thing in 2000. You'd also get a Tim Hightower/Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie "The Other Team's Rookies" storyline in there, too. Not the sexiest of pairings.

3. Pittsburgh vs. Arizona

Slogan: "Wiz Bowl"

Nielsen DMA Media Market Rankings: Pittsburgh (23), Phoenix (12)

Storyline No. 1 — Kenny Wiz vs. Big Ben: Ken Whisenhunt was the offensive coordinator in Pittsburgh for three years under Bill Cowher, guiding Ben Roethlisberger during the first three years of his career. Can the pupil slay his mentor?

Storyline No. 2 — And Big Russ, Too: People forget this now, but in the days before Mike Tomlin was named the head coach in Pittsburgh back in '07, it was rumored that longtime Steelers offensive line coach Russ Grimm would be Bill Cowher's successor in the Steel City. Grimm's now with Whisenhunt, serving as his offensive line/assistant head coach down in the desert. Grimm and Whisenhunt are 1-0 vs. Tomlin, with the win coming in a dramatic 21-14 victory last season. Can they get the best of him again?

Other angles: That 21-14 game last year was a great one, but also one in which Kurt Warner replaced Matt Leinart midway through the second-year man's performance. Things haven't been the same for Leinart since. Also, playing on the Tomlin hiring, get ready for lots of discussion on what goes into hiring a coach. Remember, not just Grimm — but Whisenhunt, too — was passed over for Tomlin in Pittsburgh. And oh yeah, Larry Fitzgerald went to Pittsburgh and Levi Brown went to Penn State. Those Western Pa. fans know those guys well. Maybe a story or two on those connections.

2. Philadelphia vs. Pittsburgh

Slogan: "The New Backyard Brawl"

Nielsen DMA Media Market Rankings: Philadelphia (4), Pittsburgh (23)

Ordinal out of range

Storyline No. 1 — Brotherly Love vs. The Steel City: Though the Penguins and Flyers have a much richer rivalry, Pennsylvania's two football teams have been known to mix it up quite a few times over the past few years. This year's intra-state rivalry game saw the Eagles win a hard-fought 15-6 defensive battle in Philly. Two tough, hard-nosed cities; two tough, hard-nosed teams. The Keystone State would be a hot mess leading up to this one.

Storyline No. 2 — The Old Masters, LeBeau vs. Johnson: 71-year-old Dick LeBeau vs. 67-year-old Jim Johnson in a heavyweight battle between arguably the two greatest defensive football minds alive today. LeBeau's legendary 3-4 scheme squares up against Johnson's attacking blitz style D. If LeBeau's the Yoda of the 3-4, Johnson's the Gandalf of the blitz. And yes, I just compared football to "Star Wars" and "Lord of the Rings." I know, I'm a complete and utter tool. Then again, I could have referenced "Magic: The Gathering," right?

Other angles: You'll get more than enough Pittsburgh vs. Philadelphia stuff, some on the local economies and communities of both (interesting) and some lame stuff on cheesesteaks vs. Iron City beer (blah blah blah). Kenny Mayne may get "zany" and Nick Bakay will do something and the advantage will be "Push ... " What else? How about a piece on Duce Staley, who played a key role on both teams throughout the '90s and 2000s, and his whereabouts now?

1. Baltimore vs. Philadelphia

Slogan: "The Battle for I-95"

Nielsen DMA Media Market Rankings: Baltimore (26) vs. Philadelphia (4)

Storyline No. 1 — Master vs. Pupil: Baltimore head coach John Harbaugh worked under Andy Reid as the Eagles special teams coordinator and defensive backs coach for nine years. In his first year with the Ravens, student must throttle teacher in the Super Bowl.

Storyline No. 2 — Crazy 6's: The AFC's 6 seed vs. the NFC's 6 seed squaring off in the Super Bowl? A fitting end to what's been the most unpredictable NFL season of all time.

Other angles: There's a lot of other meaty stuff, here. You've got Brian Dawkins and Ed Reed, the top safeties in the league, going head to head. You've got Donovan McNabb in perhaps his last stab at legendary status going up against Flacco, in his first. Plus, the Ravens were the team that got McNabb benched — and incidentally turned Philly's season around. There's also a lot more history and mystique around the Baltimore-Philly rivalry than the Pittsburgh-Philly rivalry. Cantler's Riverside Inn's crabs vs. Geno's cheesesteaks does a lot more for me than Pat's cheesesteaks vs. Iron City beer.

Just who will be playing in the Super Bowl? Let's find out.

Here are the Conference Championship Game CHEAT SHEET picks from a guy who is 1-7 in the playoffs thus far.

NFC Championship

Super Bowl Central

Steelers 27, Cardinals 23 Recap | Box | Play-by-play

Inside the game:

• Kriegel: Holmes steals show from Fitz
• Marvez: Harrison cited for going 100
• Behrendt: Loss wins Cards respect
• Video: Online OT reviews SB XLIII
• Steelers celebrate 6th Super Bowl
• Big Ben rises to occasion
• Fitz breaks out too late
• Polamalu beaming after Super win
• Respected Rooneys bask in No. 6
• Kurt Warner mum on future

Outside the game:

• Vote on 10 best, worst ads
• Polls: Was this best SB ever?
• Boards: Tell us what you think
• Steeler fans rush to the streets
• President Obama 1-for-1 on SB picks
• Porn clip interrupts local broadcast
• Springsteen rocks Super halftime show

Super Bowl history:

• NFL on FOX Super Bowl reflections
• Best teams | Games | Performances
• Worst teams | Games | Performances
• Chokes | Scandals | Media day moments
• SUPER BOWL CENTRAL | VIDEO

Shopping:

Get your Super Bowl gear!

Philadelphia at Arizona, 3 p.m. ET: Forget the 48-20 blowout some of you (if you're lucky enough to have NFL Network) saw on Thanksgiving weekend. That was a different Cardinals team than the one coming into this game on Sunday. The Eagles will be the first ones to tell you that. In the locker room after Sunday's win in New York, Kevin Curtis — a longtime NFC West foe of Arizona while in St. Louis — nodded his head when asked if Arizona's for real, "You saw what they did last night against a great Carolina team. They're playing some tough football right now."

Eagles fullback Dan Klecko made a good point, too: "That game on Thanksgiving was in Philly, on a short week for them. It was two months ago. It means nothing now."

So there's no lack of respect. In truth, both franchises need this. Neither franchise has won a Super Bowl before, while the Cardinals haven't won any sort of "title" since 1947. Both teams will leave it all on the field Sunday.

In the end, I think the Eagles are just too tough. Jim Johnson's D gets the edge over Todd Haley's O, and Donovan gets the best of Mr. Warner. It's a close one, but the Eagles prevail in the desert.

The Pick: Philadelphia 31, Arizona 23

AFC Championship Game

Baltimore at Pittsburgh, 6:30 p.m. ET: You'll hear that it's tough to beat a team three times in a year all week during the pregame chatter before this one, but that's actually not true. Not true at all. Since 1970, there has been 18 situations where a team that swept a squad in the regular season played that team for a third time in the playoffs. 11 of those 18 meetings saw the teams with the 2-0 records notching a third win in the series. So yeah, ignore all that "You can't beat a team three times" nonsense. You can. Pittsburgh's got the edge there, if anybody.

They've also got some other things going for them. Pittsburgh's healthy and rested. Baltimore had its bye week in Week 2. Week 2! They haven't been off since and that fatigue started to rear its head in the fourth quarter on Sunday. Samari Rolle was banged up in the latter moments of Baltimore's 13-10 win and will be worth monitoring this weekend.

In the end, it will be up to rookie quarterback Joe Flacco. He's struggled against the Pittsburgh D immensely in two meetings. Flacco's completed only 27 of 59 passes for 307 yards, has been sacked seven times, fumbled three times and tossed two interceptions in two close losses to the Steelers.

I see 18 straight weeks of football finally catching up with the Ravens, the magic running out for their rookie quarterback and their season ending on a last-second Jeff Reed field goal.

The Pick: Pittsburgh 20, Baltimore 17

There you have it. I'm going with the Eagles and Steelers.

So, if I were you? I'd probably take Arizona and Baltimore.