Eli Manning and the New York Giants have defeated the New England Patriots for the second time to win Super Bowl XLVI in his brother, Peyton Manning’s, house.

Now, the big debate begins: “Who is the better Manning?”

Peyton Manning, 35, is a household name and a surefire Hall of Famer. Eli Manning, 31, has always been known as Peyton’s younger brother, but after winning his second Super Bowl ring, he now has stepped out of the shadow of his older brother.

Or has he?

Peyton Manning won Super Bowl XLI where he defeated the Chicago Bears 29-17 and was named Super Bowl MVP. He went 25 for 38 attempts for 247 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

Eli Manning won his first Super Bowl against the New England Patriots 17-14 and was also named Super Bowl MVP. He went 19-34 for 255 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.

In the beginning of the 2011 season, Eli proclaimed himself to be one of the elite quarterbacks in the league right now, and many disagreed with him. Since becoming the starter, Eli has never missed a game, while this past season Peyton never took a snap.

But now Eli is a two-time Super Bowl winning quarterback and also a two- time Super Bowl MVP.

Only four other players have won multiple Super Bowl MVP’s and Eli’s brother isn’t one of them. These four include Bart Starr, Terry Bradshaw, Joe Montana and the man whom Eli has beaten twice in the big game, Tom Brady.

Peyton Manning, however, easily has the better career stats.

He is a four-time NFL MVP and Eli has yet to accomplish that. Peyton has 54,828 yards passing while Eli has only 27,579. Peyton has 399 passing touchdowns while Eli shuffles in at less than half that number with 185. Peyton’s career passer rating is 94.9 percent while Eli’s is 82.1 percent.

On the other side, since becoming the starter, Eli has never missed a game while this past season Peyton never took a snap. Eli has won two Super Bowls against arguably the best quarterback to ever to play the game and is now a two-time Super Bowl MVP. Peyton has only won one Super Bowl and one Super Bowl MVP against the Chicago Bears that had Rex Grossman as their quarterback.

So has Eli become a better player than his older brother, Peyton? Does better postseason success overshadow regular season accomplishments? Many Bucks students don’t think so.

Jessica Anne, 20, a nursing major from Morrisville, is a Pittsburgh Steelers fan. When asked if she thinks Eli Manning has become better than his older brother, she simply said “No.”

Ajay Bhatt, 21, a criminal justice major from Fairless Hills, said that “It’s tough. Eli has two Super Bowls, but Peyton has more records.”

Others believe that Eli does have the potential to become better than Peyton.

Tom Mitchell, 22, a health and physical education major from Yardley, is a San Francisco 49’ers fan and thinks Eli is on his way up.

“I think that Eli has great potential to be as good as Peyton,” Mitchell said, “but as of right now, Peyton does have more experience than Eli. Eli will follow in his brother’s footsteps very closely and there is a good chance that the younger brother will eventually be greater than the older brother. Eli this past year has just come up to that all-star level.”

Luke Gallagher, 20, a secondary education major from Yardley, is a Dallas Cowboys fan. Gallagher gave his thoughts on the game.

“Eli lived up to his statement he made before the season that he is an elite quarterback. He had a great game; very clutch,” Gallagher said.

When asked if Eli has become better than Peyton, Gallagher said that he doesn’t think so and doesn’t think Eli ever will. Gallagher said, “Eli may have more rings, but I don’t see him being as good as Peyton was talent wise but I’m sure others would differ. Eli still has a career in front of him.”

Gallagher gave the reason for this thought. “I just can’t see Eli winning with the same Colts team that Peyton had when he won. Eli has a better team built around him than Peyton did. Props to the Giants front office.”

Gallagher may be right, but only time will tell. Peyton is most likely out of Indianapolis, leaving behind a great career and making Indianapolis a football town. Eli is in New York and looks like he’s going to stay for a long time.

Both players have more time left in their career. Peyton’s neck injury has healed and has been cleared to play.

Eli is only 31 and has plenty of seasons left in his career.

Fans will have to wait until then to see which Manning truly is the better quarterback.