Mustang men's soccer feeling left out

The Cal Poly men's soccer team saw its season come to an end Monday when the Mustangs were not invited to the NCAA Tournament. Here's the bracket.
Getting left out of the tournament field wasn't all that shocking considering the Mustangs (11-4-4, 6-3-4 Big West Conference) won just two of their final eight matches after upsetting defending champion UC Santa Barbara at home on Oct. 17.
Cal Poly had an RPI of 31 last week, and 48 teams advance to the tournament, so it will be interesting to see where their RPI is this week after splitting its two matches over the weekend. Friday's loss to Portland might have been the one that burst the Mustangs' bubble. Like the Cal Poly football team, and the women's soccer team, Cal Poly might have been just one win away from the postseason.
The Big West Conference, which did not have a representative on the committee, got two teams into the tournament as conference champion UCSB and second-place UC Davis advanced. Cal Poly finished third in the conference standings, losing to UC Davis on Nov. 10. The teams split the season series.
The Pac-10, which had a representative on the committee as you can see in the previous post, got three teams in -- California (11-5-2), UCLA (8-8-3) and Washington (8-7-4).
This is not the first time a Cal Poly team has seen its bubble burst in its first attempt to break into the NCAA Tournament under a new coach. Mustang fans will recall a similar situation with the football team in 2004 and the baseball and softball teams the following spring. Same thing happened to the volleyball program three years ago. It's almost as if Cal Poly's upstart programs have to come back the following year and prove it wasn't a fluke to ensure a spot in the playoffs.
It will be interesting to see if Cal Poly's men's soccer program can bounce back from this next season and make the playoffs for the first time since 1995 .

I'm off for the next week, but will check in Sunday when the NCAA Tournament field is announced for volleyball. Cal Poly, looking for a top-16 seed, is hoping to host the first two rounds for the second straight season. The field will be announced at 5 p.m. on Nov. 25 (ESPNU).