How you perceive that is beyond me. Anyway...
Personally, the STANDARD for tOSU has never been to win the NC. It's been a desire/hope. The controllable expectation of each year is to beat scUM and win the Big Ten Championship. For me, a season of Bucks football is not a success or failure based on the National Championship. And this is exactly what you are intimating when you make it your STANDARD. I'm starting to wonder if you realize this.
According to Merriam-Webster's, this is the definition that fits your usage:
4: something set up and established by authority as a rule for the measure of quantity, weight, extent, value, or quality
For me, the "value" or "quality" of a Bucks season does not rest on the NC. But that's just me.
Furthermore, the probability of consistent play in the NC is quite low. Even in a field of 16, the probability is less than 6 percent. One does not establish the STANDARD for their acceptability of a season on six percent. To do so is to set oneself up for massive dissappointment.