It was a toss-up.

Jayhawk fans determined to see the KU men notch a national championship title settled in two camps regarding Saturday afternoon’s face-off between Oklahoma and Missouri.

There were those who wanted Missouri to topple No. 2-seeded Oklahoma because they thought Kansas had a better chance of beating its border rival later in the NCAA Tournament.

Among them were Kief’s Audio-Video owner John Kiefer, who watched Saturday’s game in a room full of big-screen televisions at his store, 2429 Iowa.

“I have never rooted for Missouri in my life until this game,” Kiefer said.

Then there were those who favored Oklahoma for the revenge factor. A KU-OU Final Four matchup would give Roy’s boys a chance to avenge their Big 12 Tournament loss to the Sooners.

Retribution was on Annie Olsen’s mind Saturday. The KU junior said she was looking forward to a possible rematch with Oklahoma. She doesn’t think the Sooners would prove too formidable a foe for the Jayhawks.

“KU has a great team,” said Olsen, catching glimpses of Saturday’s game as she worked at Jock’s Nitch Sporting Goods, 837 Mass. “They can do it.”

Ann Brill, a KU journalism professor, taught at Mizzou for eight years before coming to Jayhawk country in 2000.

“I have completely converted,” she said before Saturday’s game. “But we are a house divided. My husband is a huge Missouri fan.

“On one hand, I’m hoping Missouri really gets their butt kicked. But I think KU would do better against Missouri down the road.”

Of course, the Oklahoma-backers won the toss. But KU will have to get past Oregon today before it can even think about revenge.