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That, one breathless press room wag opined, was an NCAA Final Four game.

Actually, it was more like a game you would expect to see in the Final Four than one you would likely see. I'll bet you can count on the fingers of one hand a Final Four game that has lived up to the hype of Sunday's Kansas-Oklahoma State classic.

Yes, it was a classic, and classic is not a word to be thrown around like a Frisbee or a paper airplane. Obviously, there have been many classic basketball games played over the years, and I have no qualms about including the Jayhawks' dramatic 81-79 victory over the Cowboys among them.

I know this: You will never see a better college basketball game than Sunday's dynamic, down-to-the wire heart-stopper. Or as KU coach Bill Self remarked: "Twenty-five years from now, 50,000 people will be saying they were here."

In the final four minutes when Kansas was outscoring the 'Pokes, 9-1, the usual gang of 16,300 -- many of them clad in freebie blue T-shirts -- sounded like the Blue Angels taking off.

"This would have been a difficult game for us to win anywhere but here," Self affirmed.

No telling how many more were watching this nationally televised testament to how terrific college basketball can be when it is played at full throttle for 40 minutes by two quality teams at the top of their games.

I doubt if CBS, when it contracted to show this game late last summer, could have imagined it would be televising a game that would rival the Super Bowl for Monday morning rehashing.

Perhaps the KU-OSU commercials weren't as memorable as the Super Bowl's, but the Jayhawks and Cowboys put on a better show, in my mind anyway, than the Patriots and Eagles did four weeks ago.

Kansas coach Bill Self hugs Aaron Miles after Kansas' win Sunday at Allen Fieldhouse against Oklahoma State. The 81-79 win ended the Jayhawks' three-game losing streak.

This was certainly the best game played in Allen Fieldhouse in more than two years -- or ever since Jan. 27, 2003, when Kansas outlasted T.J. Ford-led Texas, 90-87, in what will forever be known as The Nick Collison Game.

On that afternoon, Collison scored 24 points and grabbed 23 rebounds -- a performance that prompted ESPN analyst Dick Vitale to take off his headset and give Collison a standing ovation when the KU senior fouled out in the late going.

Vitale wasn't here Sunday, of course, not with CBS televising, but if he were I would have been surprised if Mr. Awesome Baby didn't stand again and applaud Wayne Simien's yeoman 32-point, 12-rebound outing.

6Sports video: KU tops Oklahoma State Hear Bill, players: Oklahoma State postgame comments Photo Gallery: KU vs. Oklahoma State Get the stats: KU vs. Oklahoma State box score Scorecard: Grade KU's performance against Oklahoma State Page 1C, Feb. 28, 2005 Pdf | Jpg Page 6-7c, Feb. 22, 2005 Pdf | Jpg Page 1A, Feb. 28, 2005 Pdf | Jpg The upper hand Woodling: Now that was exciting! Lucas on fire for Cowboys Jayhawks break silence Notebook Fieldhouse at 50 Fieldhouse built to catch KSU, MU Dedication game quite a sight Mayer: Fans bribed for first hoops telecast Fifty most memorable moments Commentary: Not much to look at, Allen site to behold What do you think? Allen anniversary edition Read on the Web: Allen anniversary edition The last word ... on Allen Fieldhouse Sign up for cell phone updates Sign up for e-mail updates

Who was better -- Collison that day against Texas or Simien against Oklahoma State? That's for you and your fellow workers to debate around the coffee machine today. Collison had nearly twice as many rebounds as Simien, but there were 92 missed shots in the Collison game and only 47 Sunday.

Which game was better? Another debatable topic. Kansas snapped a two-game losing streak when it spilled the Longhorns that day in 2003. On Sunday KU ended a three-game skid.

If you go by raw shooting alone, the OSU game is the hands-down winner. Kansas and O-State shot an amazing 62 percent (62 of 100) combined. In the KU-Texas classic, the two clubs also combined for 62 field goals ... but they took 138 shots.

Kansas and Oklahoma State were incinerating the nets Sunday and, as Self said, "It was a lot better offense than it was bad defense."

Who knows if or when we'll ever see two teams shoot like that again? Or play at such a continuous high intensity? Or incite the fans to such a fever pitch?

In retrospect, the only way the Kansas-Oklahoma State game could have been any better was if it were next Sunday and the game would decide the Big 12 regular season championship.

As it was, both schools have two games remaining, so Kansas still has to defeat Kansas State on Wednesday night and win at Missouri next Sunday in order to capture the title outright.

Oklahoma State and Oklahoma are both one game back. OSU has winnable home games remaining against Texas A&M and Texas, but the Sooners have to go to Texas tonight and then to Texas Tech on Saturday.

Clearly, the Cowboys have the most favorable remaining schedule, but even if they tie the Jayhawks for the championship, KU would have the No. 1 seed in the Big 12 Tournament based on Sunday's outcome.

Anyway, if you missed Sunday's game for whatever reason, I sure hope you have Tivo or watched the delayed telecast Sunday night on Sunflower Broadband.

They don't come any better.