Late in Sunday afternoon's loss to Memphis in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, Bucknell coach Pat Flannery was forced to accept reality.

As much as he wished and wanted his team to pull this one out, it was not going to happen. As certain as he had been all afternoon that the he and his staff would figure out a way, or that his players would find one of their own, it was not going to happen.

Maybe, if hoops were like baseball, a game without a clock, eventually they'd have figured it out, they'd find a chink in the Tigers' armor and a way to exploit it.

But basketball isn't that way. There is a clock, and it was running out.

Flannery's whole way of playing the game is predicated on valuing possessions, and finally, the reality became, there was not enough time on the clock for enough possessions to overcome Memphis.

It was time to share that reality with his team, particularly with his senior co-captains Charles Lee and Kevin Bettencourt, time to make sure the rest of the guys on the roster could someday tell their grandkids they once played on the game's big stage.

As Lee and Bettencourt left the floor as Bison for the last time in their careers, Flannery greeted them on the sideline with a handshake and a hug, and whispered in their ear the message he shares with all his seniors in that final glory.

"When we get back, and you have some free times, we'll go get some beers,"Flannery tells them.

"They look at you like you have two heads," he said.

For four seasons the guy is reminding you drinking is against team rules, now he is saying let's go grab a beer.

Reality sets in.

After tonight's big celebration in Sojka, might be a good time for Bucknell fans to grab a beer, too.

What has happened the past two seasons in Lewisburg has been remarkable.

Magical even.

Pure lightning in a bottle.

Two straight trips to the NCAA Tournament; two straight first round wins.

Unprecedented.

History making.

All that stuff.

Because this team accomplished so many things never before done by Bucknell or any other Patriot League team, the bar has been set very high.

There was a phrase heard a lot in Dallas over the weekend: "Gonzaga of the East."

"Where do you go from here," the Bison were asked, over and over and over again.

"What do you have planned for an encore?"

"Is the Sweet 16 or Elite Eight next?"

"Is that where Bucknell is headed?"

A variation of that question was asked in all four Bucknell press conferences and over and over in the locker room interviews. And it was echoed on message boards, in barrooms and around water coolers in Dallas, Lewisburg and anywhere else Bison fans congregated to watch the games.

There is lots of reason for optimism. The Bison return a solid core. When you return two seniors who will be four-year starters -- one your standout point guard, the other an all-league center -- and a hard-nosed junior four-man who will be a three year starter, you have a pretty nice foundation to build from.

The top three from the bench will be back and seem ready for expanded roles. There are some other underclassmen who, having waited their turns, will get to show they can play a little, too.

There is a head coach with a consistent history of winning, a beautiful campus and handsome gym to attract recruits. All the media exposure of the past two seasons is also a plus.

Gonzaga of the East? That might be a stretch.

"There has to be a reality to my institution," Flannery said, responding to one of those questions.

In other words, there is a big difference between a Gonzaga and a Bucknell.

Athletic scholarships are making a big difference in the players Patriot League teams have been able to bring in, but they have not really expanded the pool of players they recruit -- at least not yet.

Not all schools are like Arkansas and Memphis, letting anybody in anybody who can ball and meet the Prop. 48 standards. Patriot League schools, at least most of them, don't recruit kids and then tuck them away someplace for a year or two to get eligible.

Can any Patriot League school, even one with Bucknell's current recruiting advantages, realistically expect to go deep into the NCAA Tournament?

Given the right draw (see Bradley), it could happen.

But every year? Or even on a regular basis?

That seems a ways off. As Flannery pointed out, there is a certain realism to the situation.

Still, the bar has been set.

Much has been said about the leadership of Bettencourt and Lee. The national media in Dallas were fixated at times on the Bison's scholarship saga -- a story we all thought was worn out last year -- and how the two guys from the last non-scholarship class were the guys who carried the team to the second round.

Potentially, the bigger story in the long run, will be how those two taught the whole program what it takes to play at that next level.

"We all know how much it is going to take to get back here," said junior Chris McNaughton. "We all know what it takes. It is going to require a lot of work."

It's McNaughton's team now; his and Abe Badmus', and Donald Brown's.

"We're seniors now. It starts now," McNaughton said. "My class now will have take care of (making sure the young players) realize what we have to do."

McNaughton was asked about topping this year's act. His answer sounded like Lee and Bettencourt already. All season long it has been Lee and Bettencourt who kept the team's ego in check, constantly enforcing the strict one game at a time approach that is all teams preach but few actually practice.

"I don't want to talk about the Sweet 16 or the Elite 8 right now," McNaughton said.

"We have an off season right now. All of us will have to get back to work. Then we have the preseason and what not. There are a lot of games to be played before we will be back here. Then we can talk about the tournament again if we are back."

Gonzaga of the East? That is still a long ways off.

Remember, it will be a couple years before you can really assess what these past two seasons will mean to the long term success of the program.

"These guys are going in the right direction," Bettencourt said.

If Flannery does not get lured to greener pastures (he is far from the highest paid coach in the league), if all the exposure gives BU the recruiting boost some anticipate, if those kids that come in continue to work as hard, or even harder than this team, who knows?