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She's one of the top-selling recording artists of ALL TIME -- so, why hasn't Mariah Carey performed a Super Bowl halftime show?

It's not that she's opposed to the idea ...

In fact, when we saw Mariah leaving Craig's in L.A. on Sunday night, she told us -- "I would love to!"

Mariah has performed AT the Super Bowl before -- just not during the halftime show. She did the National Anthem at the Super Bowl in 2002 -- a performance Rolling Stone ranked as one of the most memorable of all time.

Back in 2016, Carey told Andy Cohen on 'Watch What Happens Live' that she would do the halftime show when she has a new song coming out.

Well, she just dropped a new promotional single -- with plans to release her 15th album in the very near future.

So ... Mariah in 2020??