Duke Basketball: Blue Devils vs UNC Tar Heels and Basketball's Biggest Rivalries

Rivalries are great, no matter what sport you're talking about. They can get extremely crazy when it comes to college basketball, though, because it's a confined area filled with so much passion and hate. 

Fans of all sports love to beat everybody, but there's always that one team they want to beat the most. In fact, most would agree that as long as their favorite team beats their archrival each time, the rest of the season doesn't matter. 

Of course, they wish the best for their favorite team and wouldn't want to see failure, but all is well as long as they beat their biggest enemy. 

College basketball is no stranger to fierce rivalries, and Wednesday night we'll get to witness one of them. Duke and North Carolina go head-to-head in Chapel Hill, but do they rank as the best college basketball rivalry?

You might think so, but to get my opinion, read on as I rank the top rivalries in college basketball.  

1. Kentucky vs. Louisville 

Before you Dukies and Tar Heel maniacs get completely irate, just hear me out. I know you won't agree with me because these aren't your teams, but the intensity that goes down in the Battle for the Bluegrass is insane. 

If you won't take my word for it, here's a couple tweets from Pat Forde of Yahoo! Sports to back me up. 

They may not have played as many games as Duke and UNC, but basketball is all the state of Kentucky has (and all they care about), which is why the Battle for the Bluegrass is on top. The beef between them is so strong that two teams even had to stop playing each other for several years. 

They started playing in 1913, but the rivalry didn't really heat up until the 1980's. Since then, it has grown into the best college basketball rivalry. When Rick Pitino took over at Louisville, all it did was make this rivalry even better. 

Fans of both teams loathe the other to the core, and they discuss it amongst each other all throughout the year.  Duke and UNC may have the history, but the passionate fanbase is much stronger in Kentucky. 

Plus, the fact they only play each other once a year makes it even more intense. 

2. Duke vs. North Carolina 

The tradition these two schools have against one another is very strong, dating back to 1920. 

When casual fans think about college basketball, Duke and North Carolina are among the first few teams that come to their mind.

The reason for that, though, is because of their national dominance in the sport. It's known that they hate each other, but most people just think about their great success. 

While both schools can't stand each other, it's not as crazy as it is out in Kentucky. Since the Blue Devils and the Tar Heels play each other twice a year, sometimes three times if they meet in the ACC Tournament, the rivalry loses some of its luster. 

Don't get me wrong, it's still an amazing rivalry, but Kentucky and Louisville narrowly edges them out. 

3.  Cincinnati vs. Xavier 

I thought about putting Kansas vs. Missouri here, but the recent brawl between Cincinnati and Xavier pushed them into the top three. 

Fighting is something that shouldn't be happening in rivalries, but is was perfect proof of how much these two teams hate each other. 

Being only 10 minutes apart from each other, there is always constant back-and-forth banter between the schools.

Basketball is what they're known for, and the rise of Xavier over recent years and made this rivalry one of the best in college basketball.