I think if you were going to make the case for a team that missed the field being in, you have to go with Cornell over High Point. 10-5 overall record, with wins against us and Towson. All losses came to teams in the NCAA tournament (Penn State, Syracuse, Penn and Yale twice).
As to your last sentence, I think the key could be more conferences adding the sport. If two more conferences got AQ bids, that would up the total to 11. In that event, I think they'd expand the NCAA tourney to 24 teams, which means more at-large bids available.