Let's face it: We're all rabid about football. But for the next few weeks, basketball takes center stage as we tune in to March Madness and wait on spring football to get hot and heavy, too.

Why can't we blend the best of both worlds with this story?

Some of the college football players starring on Saturdays did have it that way back in high school before choosing big-time football, and several of them could have developed on the hardwood enough where they could have been dribbling on your TV this March.

Then they could have joined two-sport stars like Keon Coleman and Maliq Carr of Michigan State, who will be participating in the NCAA tournament.

So, which college football players currently playing could you realistically have been watching star on the hardwood? While there are plenty of quality athletes who had great prep careers, only a few are out there who have the ability to be exceptional hoopsters. 

Here are a handful of college football players who may have had the chops to be key cogs in NCAA tournament teams had they stuck with that other sport.

Jalen Carter, Georgia Defensive Lineman

Imagine a 6'3", 310-pound power forward storming down the basketball court. Would you get in his way?

That's the conundrum that faced high schoolers around Apopka, Florida, when Carter was in school. He was a terrific player on the hardwood who thought he was going to play that sport on the collegiate level.

Instead, Carter was a huge part of the Bulldogs' national championship season as a defensive lineman on the nation's top defense. Despite sharing time with Jordan Davis and Devonte Wyatt, Carter finished the year with 37 tackles, including 8.5 for a loss, three sacks and three quarterback hurries.

Hearkening back to that basketball ability, Carter also added two blocked kicks, proving he's got major ups. He was throwing down ridiculous dunks in high school, and though he would have been a big dude on the court, it's possible he could have developed into a bruiser who registered significant minutes in college.

He did look a little like Zion Williamson out there in his basketball jersey.

Instead, Carter did it all wreaking havoc on offenses, and as lauded as Davis and Wyatt are, Carter may wind up being the best defensive lineman in the history of the program. He's that talented and perhaps has the same type of ceiling as another former elite DT, Warren Sapp, who also comes from his hometown. 

Had Carter played college basketball, he wouldn't have made the tournament on this year's awful Bulldogs team, but he could have gotten some looks at other programs that could have been playing in March. Instead, he'll have to settle for being one of the most dominant returning defensive linemen in college football.