Hard but not impossible!Top 3 will be hard even in the New MWC. GCU will always be tough because the have Jerry Colangelo dumping in NIL money. New Mexico will be tough every year for some unknowable reason. UTEP is excited about "moving up" in conference - I wouldn't doubt the have access to laundered cartel $$ for NIL. Every third year Reno or Wyoming will play out their ass.
We should be striving for the top spot every year, getting second place would be worst case on most years and third place is the extreme exception!