BATON ROUGE (AP) — LSU expected to be heading back to the practice field this week.

Instead, it was time for head coach Paul Mainieri to start working on next year, when several key players, including outfielder Mikie Mahtook and shortstop Austin Nola, will more than likely be starting their pro careers.

LSU had hoped to learn on Monday that it would be receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament that begins this weekend. Instead, the selection committee decided that the Tigers 36-20 overall record was not good enough, in large part because they were 13-17 in the Southeastern Conference and failed to make the SEC tournament.

Although Mainieri still thought his team deserved a bid, he says the lesson is that LSU cannot leave its postseason fate in the hands of a committee and must win more conference games.

“This is why we need to get better,” Mainieri said. “We can’t put ourselves in this position again. I don’t think we should be feeling like this, quite frankly. They can put a spin however they want to put a spin on it, and I’m sure I could have a rebuttle to just about every point that they make. The bottom line is we weren’t selected, and we left it up to people to decide whether or not we should be playing. And that’s something we just can’t do in the future.

“We did not do enough in the SEC,” Mainieri added. “We were 13-17 no matter how you spin it, but I don’t feel like the program is in the doldrums.”

LSU hoped that its overall strength of schedule rating, also known as its RPI, would help. LSU had an RPI in the mid-20s, the highest of any team not invited to the tournament.

The news was especially tough for Mahtook, a junior outfielder who is not likely to return to the Tigers because he’s expected to be a high selection in the next Major League Baseball draft. It didn’t help that the Tigers practiced all of last week in anticipation of playing again, only to find out it was all for naught.

“We spent a week in limbo. That’s probably the toughest part,” Mahtook said. “That was all for nothing. We’ve had a hard-luck season. You don’t want your college career to end on this note. I guess not making the SEC Tournament was a huge factor.”

Senior pitcher Ben Alsup said the disappointment was “like a sack of bricks hitting you in the face.”

“Not only is it really heartbreaking, it’s kind of indescribable,” Alsup said. “We’ve been to an NCAA regional the last three years. LSU is one of the greatest programs in the country the last 15 or 20 years. It’s definitely something you’re not used to.”

Nola said there was “no doubt in our minds,” that LSU would get a bid.

“The word all week was we were in. That’s how we lived last week and practiced all week,” he added. “I thought we had a chance all the way until the 64th team was selected. … This feeling is tough to get out of your stomach.”

Now LSU, which in 2009 won a sixth national title since 1991, will stay home during the NCAA tournament for only the third time since 1988, but also for the third time in six seasons and the second time since Mainieri’s first season in 2007.

Mainieri said he hurts most for his players, who come to LSU expecting to be in the postseason.

“They come to LSU to play for the national championship, and when you don’t get invited to the NCAA Tournament that’s a very traumatic thing for them.”