Where have you gone, Billy Tubbs? College basketball just isn't exciting anymore

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Entertaining basketball ruled the 1988 Big Eight Tournament, just before that dazzling stretch that left three Big Eight teams in the Elite Eight and two in the NCAA championship game.

The seven winners that weekend at Kemper Arena averaged 85 points a game. OU beat Missouri 102-99 in a rousing semifinal, then bested Kansas State 88-83 for the title.

Don't expect to see the same this weekend. A quarter century later, the league has changed (Big 12), the site has changed (Sprint Center) and the rivalries have changed (no Missouri).

But the biggest difference is in style of play. College basketball has gone splat.