DALLAS -- Saturday's Big 12 results will have repercussions for Oklahoma and Missouri, for the conference, for the next few weeks in college basketball and for the next few seasons in the Big 12, regardless of what occurs in Sunday's final.

A Final Four favorite re-invented itself in Oklahoma, and Missouri made it clear that it could make the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament.

And a bitter rivalry is in full bloom between Oklahoma and Texas Tech that could end up being just as nasty as Missouri-Kansas, Texas-Oklahoma or Oklahoma-Oklahoma State without the treasured history.

Oklahoma's victory over Texas Tech Saturday in overtime and Missouri's comeback triumph over Kansas in the earlier semifinal at the Big 12 tournament at the American Airlines Arena shouldn't be dismissed as just another pair of tournament games.

These wins, and the way the Sooners and Tigers got them, have shelf life beyond Saturday.

Take Missouri: the Tigers looked like toast at halftime, burned by a few late buckets by the Jayhawks. But Missouri coach Quin Snyder got his players to believe at the half that slowing down, pounding the ball inside and clamping down on defense were the ways to beat the Jayhawks. Certainy having Kirk Hinrich on the bench with four personal fouls during Missouri's 15-6 run helped the Tigers' cause.

But what Missouri discovered for the second time in successive seasons is that the regular season is more of a training ground for this team. The Tigers seem to have this tournament thing figured out, a bit earlier this season after failing to reach the semifinals last season before going on to the Elite Eight.

"This is our time,'' Missouri forward Travon Bryant said. "We weren't feeling that urgency earlier in the season. But we are now and we're staying hungry. We're creating more of a presence down low and that means we're not so one dimensional.''

The Tigers played with more passion down the stretch, leaving the Jayhawks thinking about the NCAAs instead of the Big 12 title like a number of top seeds in their respective conference tournaments (see: Arizona, Wisconsin, Marquette, Wake Forest, Xavier and Utah).

"We just played with a lot of emotion and we've learned from the games that we've lost,'' Missouri guard Ricky Clemons said.

Sure, there were tactical moves, like ensuring that Bryant stays in the post next to Arthur Johnson instead of free-lancing facing the basket, moving Jimmy McKinney to the point and using Clemons much more as a scoring wing. But the difference in Missouri is, it once again is a tough team heading into mid-March. Just look at the defensive numbers: Missouri held Kansas to 63 points, shut it out for the final 3:17 and limited the Jayhawks to only two field goals in the final 4:56.

Maybe the Tigers are mimicking Oklahoma.

Last year's Sooners were one of the toughest teams in America (Maryland probably edged them out last season) and are about to lay claim to the title again.

Oklahoma senior guard Hollis Price had stomach cramps, yet still found a way to stay on the court in overtime, come up with a steal and a layup to clinch the win and finish with 26 points. Senior wing Ebi Ere, playing with a fractured left wrist, snapped in three 3s and scored 17 points to bring back memories of his prolific scoring from a year ago. Fellow senior point Quannas White wasn't as proficient but still made plays down the stretch that mattered, doing so on a nagging knee injury.

"We're a tough ballclub,'' White said. "What you saw was how we stay focused and don't just look ahead to the NCAAs. We're just tough guys.''

"It all goes back to coach (Kelvin) Sampson from last season and what he went through with his Pops (dealing with a subdural hematoma),'' Price said. "We reflect our leader. We step up and play through injuries.''

The Sooners entered Sunday's game 23-6 without ever really having a healthy team after dealing with various injuries to the above-mentioned seniors, as well as Johnnie Gilbert and Jabahri Brown at one point during the season.

"This is a game that we could have easily lost,'' Sampson said. "But our guys got tougher down the stretch.''

Getting Ere to be a reliable scorer could be the difference between Oklahoma getting back to the Final Four or flaming out earlier. Ere's scoring last season was a difference-maker for the Sooners. Ere, who fractured the wrist in practice earlier in the week, said he was in pain when he caught the ball, dribbled and it and released it. But he still oddly enough felt comfortable shooting.

"It's going to hurt,'' Ere said. "So I spent some time in the hotel room dribbling the ball and pounding on it to get through it. I'm just trying to block it out.''

Now, that's tough.

And fueling the toughness Saturday was the rivalry that is already heated between the two schools.

Oklahoma is fuming that its credibility has been questioned by Texas Tech after the infamous shot clock incident in which a full second was added to the game in Norman this season when the clock stopped twice in the final 6.8 seconds. The extra time allowed Price to get off a shot that tied the game that the Sooners eventually won in overtime. Price had to make a coast-to-coast run and mid-range jumper, dodging a few defenders and almost tripping before making the shot.

The clock operator was relieved of his duties, but no malicious intent was found after a Big 12/Oklahoma investigation. And the win wasn't given to Texas Tech. Instead, the Red Raiders might fall one victory short of making the NCAAs despite their impassioned plea to have that game receive an asterisk.

"That really upset me and the team,'' Price said of the talk that Oklahoma was unscrupulous. "We stood up for our coach for that. At the beginning of the game they didn't want to shake hands. Yeah, I heard about that we should forfeit but if the ref would have called a foul with a few seconds left then I would have knocked them down and the game would have been over (before Price's shot).

"Coach Knight said I made a great shot before he saw the tape and then he saw the tape, reviewed it and that's when all this stuff came out, but you all (in the media) are doing a good job saying that I made a good shot,'' Price said.

Price said this would be a fierce rivalry in the years to come. Sampson said to add the Red Raiders to a growing list of quality teams in the Big 12. Sampson and Texas Tech coach Bob Knight exchanged a quick, terse handshake after the game without any words being spoken.

Sunday's final won't be as intense as Saturday's semifinal, but the hunger to win for both teams should be like a regular-season Big 12 game, even though this is the much-maligned conference tournament title game with neither team needing the win for a bid.

That doesn't matter. These teams have found their identity -- their toughness. Their NCAA first-round opponents should begin to shudder.

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.