Yes, I mostly agree VT.
The issue I have with the caveats, as I posted to Spider17, is not that those seasons were not fun to watch or in some measure good seasons, worthy of interest, it's that in the big games that mattered most, the Spiders always lost and thus were never a part of the final at large discussions. So yes, fun seasons, but I have to discount them because we walked such a tightrope and then didn't rise to the occasion when it mattered most (VCU OT loss in Pittsburgh, VCU quarters loss after a bye in Brooklyn when Kendall slipped and ANO didn't get a key board...) In 2022 we underachieved making the season less fun bc we knew the potential was there, but luckily Gilyard started firing in the A10, the UD point guard went down at halftime and Matt Grace stepped up with big shots in crunchtime. The A10 tournament outside that season has been a mess under Moon the last 15 years.
In some instances like 2 years ago, it was the OOC that blew up any at large potential - even worse. So while 15-3 was great, the 1 seed was nice, it was really all about the A10 tournament and peaking at the right time and putting it all together in Brooklyn. Instead, out by 2 p.m. first day.
There is really no difference between going 0-13 any year in the OOC and this season's OOC if you are talking about being in the at large discussions. It's all about the A10 tourney in either situation.
Especially if you can only go 10-3 against the 350th ranked OOC schedule (12-1 is my minimum expectation for that schedule and 13-0 should be realistic for a team with UR's resources.)