Take a look at my example. Season 10 - I started with 1-6 score, finished 12-10, kicked long time second team in my conference. Never looked back. Season 11 - promoted to 3rd division. First goal in 3rd division was to stay alive. Check. Second goal - make it to the playoff. Check. And now, 3 rounds before the playoff I secured the playoff. FURTHERMORE, no.1 team in my conference sold 2 great players so he can pay the sallary of one player (big mistake), he's constantly in the red. NEXT, second guy from the other conference is better then me, but didn't log in for a month so we'll see... NEXT, no.1 team from the other conference announced on the forum that he doesn't wanna go to the higher division....
SO.... you see what happens throughout the season. First I was afraid (I was petrified... lol) and now with some luck I'll promote. Being competitive - I vote for promoting. Much more money plus similar scenario can happen with your higher division buddies. And you can always sign a good player that will help you stay alive in the league. And I didn't even talk about bots so....