I’ll probably take some flak for this, but my minimum threshold is “go to a bowl every year” (and win around half of them). We did the first part of that for a long time, despite facing some adverse conditions (coaching changes, academic losses). We did the second part early on in that streak (our bowl win percentage used to be tops in the nation and a point of pride) but lost our way.
The bar for making a bowl has lowered, but it still means (almost always) that you’re .500 or better. Doing that on a consistent basis is rare, hence the elite company we were in with that streak - if it was easy, every factory school would do it. There’s no reason in our division and conference (other than the fact that we’re stuck with two rivals currently at their all-time high water mark) that we can’t be .500 or better every year.
That gives us a foundation to build on to get into the top 25 regularly (a la ‘98 to ‘00), and to occasionally have the stars align for us (a la ‘90 or ‘14). But I think it’s unrealistic to believe that we can be a perennial top 25 team (maybe top 35), let alone top 10. To say that we can do it if Clemson and U[sic]GA can is to fail to recognize how academics, athletics, and finances have changed since the glory days of Dodd.
JRjr