It's not so bad depending on what side you're on... which the balance tends to shift around a lot. When I first came up, Great 8 was kinda weak and Big 8 was a lot tougher... but lately, it seems like Great 8 is highly contested (you might miss the playoffs with 12 wins) and Big 8 has looked a lot easier to win in (6-8 wins being good enough for at least 5th place)