As has been mentioned before, there are only 2 more at-large spots, not 4. Also there are both more teams and more power conference teams now than there were in the mid 2000s. So field size seems like a wash if not actually more difficult now.
Regarding transfer rules, I can certainly see a good argument that no sit out transfers would be helpful for building a depleted roster. However, Pike did not have this advantage any more than Waters did in the initial build phase; no sit out transfers did not exist generally until post covid.