Indianapolis ? For the Mannings, this has been a near-perfect season.

Peyton was chosen as the NFL’s co-MVP, while younger brother Eli blossomed into a Heisman Trophy finalist as Mississippi’s quarterback.

Next month, the Mannings hope to be in Houston watching Peyton’s Indianapolis Colts in the Super Bowl. They’ll first have to get past the Kansas City Chiefs today. Win or lose for the Colts, by April the Mannings could have another No. 1 draft pick in the family.

It’s almost too good to be true.

“I’ve always said the most fun fall we had was in ’91, when Peyton was a sophomore in high school and Cooper was a senior and they played together,” patriarch Archie Manning said about his two oldest sons. “Both had great years, they went to the state semifinals, it was just fun to watch. But this one has certainly rivaled that.”

The Mannings seem to have football running through their veins.

Archie Manning, a former quarterback with the New Orleans Saints, Houston Oilers and Minnesota Vikings, spent this season traveling long distances to watch two of his sons.

He made the 51/2-hour drive from his New Orleans home to Oxford, Miss., six times, in addition to traveling to places such as Auburn, Ala., Gainesville, Fla., Cleveland and Indianapolis.

In all, he’s attended 22 games — all 13 of Mississippi’s and nine of the Colts’ 17 — and logged more miles than he can count and cheered more than he can remember.

“It’s been a busy fall,” he said with a chuckle.

The brothers, including Cooper, are nearly inseparable, too.

Cooper, 29, was in Dallas for the Cotton Bowl, then flew to Indianapolis for the Colts’ playoff game against Denver. In between, there were phone calls to Peyton.

Peyton, meanwhile, cut short his MVP news conference so he could hurry home to watch Eli’s bowl game. In high school, he switched from No. 14 to No. 18 as a tribute to Cooper, who was forced out of football because of a congenital narrowing of the spinal canal.

And when Eli and Peyton aren’t poring over game film, they’re sometimes on the phone discussing Xs and Os.

But this year’s script seems more like that of a fantasy.

Peyton, the middle son at 27, produced the best season in his six-year NFL career.

Eli Manning celebrated his 22nd birthday last week by beating Oklahoma State in the Cotton Bowl. That gave Mississippi its first 10-win season since 1971 and its first January bowl victory since 1970 when his father was the quarterback.

“Unfortunately when you’re in a football family, the fall is dictated more by wins and losses,” Cooper said. “So this has been the best one ever.”