Go 3-2 against ranked teams and 0-1 against the cupcake.  That's an arguably decent season.  That such a season is in contention for a NY6 tells you all you need to know about what the NY6 means.

The key to the P5 mystique is to get a bunch of the conference teams ranked and highly regarded.  That way, some team in the conference is guaranteed to have the 3-2 record, even if the conference stinks in reality.  If the conference stinks, there would be no way to know.  The pre-season rankings become a self-fulfilling prophecy.