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What If Rival College Basketball Teams Used Their Best Players Of All Time? (Photos)

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Basketball may have been back in our lives for a while now with the return of the NBA, but there are just some things about the college game that cannot be matched.

The atmosphere, the tradition, the unmistakably different style of play; all of these unique facets keep us tuned in as the excitement of the season rises like a crescendo to the main event: March Madness.

But even past the NCAA Tournament, there's one feature of college basketball that stands above the rest: rivalries. And the best of these heated matchups always have a way of capturing our imagination, whether it prompts questions of which program is better, or even, which has produced the best players.

Diving into the latter question, much like imagining NBA dream teams of hometown players, is a throughly fun exercise especially.

After compiling the best talents ever developed by each program featured in college basketball's greatest rivalries, we've come up with this: Here's how those rivalries would look if they used the best players of our generation.

Illinois vs. Missouri

Joseph Milord
Joseph Milord

Ohio State vs. Michigan*

Joseph Milord
Joseph Milord

Louisville vs. Kentucky

Joseph Milord
Joseph Milord

California vs. Stanford

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Joseph Milord

UCLA vs. USC

Joseph Milord
Joseph Milord

Cincinnati vs. Xavier

Joseph Milord
Joseph Milord

Indiana vs. Purdue*

Joseph Milord
Joseph Milord

Syracuse vs. UConn*

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Joseph Milord

Duke vs. North Carolina

Joseph Milord
Joseph Milord

Georgetown vs. Villanova*

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Joseph Milord

Marquette vs. Wisconsin

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Joseph Milord

Gonzaga vs. Saint Mary's

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Joseph Milord

Iowa vs. Iowa State*

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Joseph Milord

Kansas vs. Kansas State

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Joseph Milord

Alabama vs. LSU

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Joseph Milord

Tennessee vs. Memphis

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Joseph Milord

Texas vs. Arkansas

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Joseph Milord

Georgia vs. Georgia Tech

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Joseph Milord

Washington vs. Washington State

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Joseph Milord

Wake Forest vs North Carolina State*

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Joseph Milord

Brigham Young vs. Utah

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Joseph Milord

Florida vs. Florida State

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Joseph Milord

DePaul vs. Notre Dame

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Joseph Milord

Clemson vs. South Carolina

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Joseph Milord

Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State

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Joseph Milord

Santa Clara vs. San Francisco

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Joseph Milord

St. John's vs. Providence

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Joseph Milord

Arizona vs. Arizona State

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Joseph Milord

Michigan vs. Michigan State

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Joseph Milord

Duke vs. Maryland

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Joseph Milord

Rutgers vs. Seton Hall

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Joseph Milord

Holy Cross vs. UMass

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Joseph Milord

Temple vs. La Salle

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Joseph Milord

West Virginia vs. Pittsburgh

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Joseph Milord

Bonus: Just 'Cause

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Disagree with any of the selections above? Let us know who you would choose for the all-legend teams of college basketball's greatest rivalries. 

*This was always meant to end up becoming a crowdsourced list, and the people have spoken. Rivalries with asterisks reflect changes to the original selections.