You are the one choosing to ignore/disregard that if COVID had failed to exist (saving us so to speak) there was a very high probability of missing the Dance last season. And, if we do end coming up on the short end of the stick this year, that indeed would've been 4 out of the last 7 seasons. Therefore, it really isn't nonsense at all to make such an argument. You can certainly choose to tune it out as you seemingly have, but again, a majority of folks who follow the program closely can indeed see that logic/rationale being made.
Moreover, and along those lines, we've become a middling program over the same time period. A program that hasn't been ranked in the Top 25 come January during the regular season since 2014. A program no longer chasing conference titles and high tourney seeds, etc., but rather clawing and scratching just to get in the Dance...our new normal.