COLUMBIA, Mo. • After No. 4 Mizzou and eighth-ranked Kansas collaborated Saturday for an apparent grand finale in Columbia, MU coach Frank Haith was dazzled by the atmosphere of his first experience with the rivalry.

"I think it would be a shame that we could not continue this game," Haith said after MU's 74-71 win, adding, "It's great for the game to have us play."

KU coach Bill Self offered a semi-conciliatory view toward the future.

Fleetingly.

"I haven't made a decision five years down the road what we'll do, or three years down the road what we'll do," he said. "But it's not going to happen in the immediate future."

From KU's view, that's just the simple consequence of MU's choice to leave the Big 12 for the Southeastern Conference.

"They chose to be somewhere else, and that's fine, that's their prerogative. If it's better for them, so be it. But when you choose to be somewhere else you leave a situation behind that's not the same that it was when you were in it," Self said, adding, "But it's not because I don't like Mizzou. It's because it's just kind of the way it is right now."

Asked if he felt bad for fans of the series, Self said, "Missouri wanted this. So why should I feel bad? I don't feel bad for anybody. If anybody should feel bad for anybody, it's the players ... but not the fans. The fans to me don't drive the bus. At all."

But Self praised Mizzou fans afterward.

"This is hard for me to say to Mizzou people, but I thought tonight was about as good and classy an atmosphere as there is," he said.