I think that a homegrown team might be able to make division 1 in a big country. My homegrown USA team played respectably well in USA division 2 for the past couple of seasons, & was largely created with a level 3 trainer. (have since upgraded). Just last season I lost in double OT, equal effort, to the team that won the league & promoted to division 1.
(108293307) So the gap wasn't *that* big.
Like mentioned above my Utopia team has been competitive with some really great teams. It's in decline now. And will probably demote. But even so check out this last game.
(110490219)Opposing team: $200k center, $100k PF, $85k SG.... And my best player was injured after 9 minutes! I know I used more effort, but still. it was a very declining backup center vs a $200k monster!