Lee Cummard thought, before another first-round loss, that it would take a win in the NCAA tournament to distinguish this men's basketball season from the previous one.

He may have even come up with a campaign slogan: "It'll happen."

The full comment from Rose, to the Daily Herald, regarding whether the Cougars can get past what vexes them: "You get yourself in a situation where you're only talking about a play here or a play there. It'll happen."

That's the balm that the Cougars will use heading into the offseason, as expectations could reasonably be even higher next year.

The next necessary step is a win in the NCAA tournament, where the Cougars fell short again March 20 in Anaheim, Calif., with a loss to Texas A&M.

It was the sixth consecutive time the Cougars have failed to win in the NCAA tournament since 1993, and the second consecutive year with Rose.

For a third-year coach who has produced a significant increase in victories each season, the postseason is the one remaining blemish. BYU is 0-3, counting a road loss in the NIT from 2006.

It will also again try to avenge a loss to UNLV in the MWC title game, on the Rebels' home floor.

Basing the season on one or two games wouldn't do it justice, says Rose, who will possibly return the team's top three scorers -- Lee Cummard, Trent Plaisted and Jonathan Tavernari.

"To be as consistent as we were is a tribute to the players and the rest of the staff," Rose said.

Cummard, the co-player of the year in the MWC, will be back for a senior year. That's a stark contrast from the end of last season, when the Cougars knew they'd have to replace Keena Young and a bunch of seniors.

But the 6-foot-7 wing will be complemented by Jonathan Tavernari, who expanded his game greatly as a sophomore and contributed significantly after a string of early-season offensive struggles.

The 6-6 Tavernari became much more focused with his defense, rebounding and passing as the season went on.

The big question, of course, is what Plaisted will do. The 6-11 junior center has no shortage of people willing to offer him advice about the future. The big man is "really intrigued," his coach said, with the interest NBA teams have shown in him.

Rose will not place any extra pressure for Plaisted to make a decision, which he must confirm by April 27 as a non-senior. He can attend workouts and decide to return to college by June 16, assuming he never hires an agent.

That seems to be a logical, healthy investigation for Plaisted to partake.

The biggest remaining questions are the guard line. Sam Burgess and Ben Murdock, who started every game for the 27-8 team, are graduated.

That means sophomores Jimmer Fredette and Mike Loyd will compete in some form for those spots. They'll be joined by return missionary Jackson Emery (back in June) and Lamont Morgan, a junior-college transfer who the Cougars sat out in a somewhat surprise move just before the season opener at Long Beach State.

Coaches feel like Morgan appropriately used the time to learn the offense, running the scout team, and is a true point guard who could fill in favorably for Murdock.

Noah Hartsock, a highly touted forward from Oklahoma, will make the short trip from Salt Lake City to Provo at the end of July, when his two-year LDS mission is completed. Redshirt James Anderson, a lanky forward, also used scout-team work to improve.

They'll be in line to replace standout freshman Chris Collinsworth, who will soon be mission-bound in Australia.

Rose can't praise his freshmen from this year enough, and has high hopes for the incoming group.

Rose is optimistic as well about Charles Abouo, a 6-4 swingman from Logan who opted to attend a New Hampshire prep school this year as the young-for-his-age guard sorted out his future options (the coach says Abouo carried a high grade-point average in high school, where he earned a diploma, and that wasn't the reason he didn't go straight to a university).

Abouo didn't turn 18 until November. With long arms for his height, he is expected to be a bigger and stronger version of former BYU standout Mike Hall -- and could make a defensive presence immediately, coaches feel.

Rose met with various media outlets last week, usual for coaches at the ends of seasons. He said the loss to A&M still was painful.

However, he pointed out that the No. 9-seeded Aggies could have defeated top-seeded UCLA -- which advanced to the Final Four on Sunday -- if a play that worked against the No. 8 Cougars was as successful against the Bruins.

But Dominique Kirk missed an open 3-point look.

BYU just has to do a little more work at making its fortune, Rose said.

"We have to try to figure out how to be just as good, if not better," Rose said. "It was a special season. We need to remember all of the good things, and come back with even more determination."

SEASON REVIEW

BYU, 27-8, set school records in 3-pointers and rebounds. The Cougars return their top three scorers -- assuming Trent Plaisted doesn't head to the NBA -- and also have solid sophomore guards, Mike Loyd and Jimmer Fredette, along with redshirt junior Lamont Morgan, to step in for the graduated guards Ben Murdock and Sam Burgess.

If the 6-foot-11 junior center goes pro, leaving behind a scoring average of 15.4 points and 7.7 rebounds, at least BYU has Lee Cummard (15.8 ppg, 6.3 rpg) and Jonathan Tavernari (13.1 ppg, 5.3 rpg).

• Bring it on: BYU's hesitant to talk about its schedule, but there are a few key games already known. Wake Forest will be in Provo for a rematch, sometime during the school's winter holiday break. There's a Dec. 6 game at EnergySolutions Arena against Utah State, reviving a rivalry that took time off.

And it was announced Friday that the Cougars will play Arizona State -- which barely missed the NCAA tournament this year -- as part of a December doubleheader at the University of Phoenix Stadium. The football stadium will be part of the NCAA tournament next year (West Regional). Along with a setup of Louisville and Minnesota, event organizers are hoping to use the stadium's first basketball event to attract a Final Four there soon.

By the way, ASU will return to face BYU in Utah the following season. It was supposed to be this year, but the Cougars wanted badly to get a game in Cummard's home state for his senior year, thus the switch.

It appears that a 47-game home-court winning streak is making it tough for BYU to get home games.

• Everything advertised: The non-conference schedule presumed to be so tough when it was announced last summer has panned out. Louisville, North Carolina and Michigan State all have played deep into March Madness. Also, Boise State made the NCAA tournament and young Wake Forest even made some headlines by beating Duke. League foe UNLV, which handed BYU its worst loss in January, also made it to the second round of the NCAA tournament.

• Reasons to burn: BYU has finished the last two seasons the same way: Losing to UNLV on its home floor in the Mountain West Conference tournament title game, then the first round of the NCAA tournament. That's plenty of motivation until practices pick up in October.

• News waiting to happen: BYU still has one scholarship remaining, and coach Dave Rose said his staff was still deciding what to do with it. There's a chance it could go to Gavin MacGregor, a backup walk-on center who missed this year with an injury but has impressed with his tenacity. Or the Cougars will try to fulfill a roster need elsewhere.