Bowl eligibility only requires 6 wins, of course. We should win the vast majority of our non-conference games. That means even if we are 1 or 2 games under .500 in the league, we should still be bowl eligible. I figure we will be at least a .500 team the vast majority of the years.
As far as contending for the league championship game, that will probably only be something that will happen once or twice in a six-year period. Still, the Big 12 has good bowl tie ins, so we will have good games most years during bowl season.