I think so. Both my teams in same server used to be grouped with several friends in same league every season. Suddenly, there were no friend in same league 3 season ago. Qualities of most of the teams became very close. In my impression, all were within range of not more than 4 quality points. Moreover, most of them were active managers. So all league matches were not easy. I checked a few friends in the same level, and noticed that qualities of their opponents were also similar.
In last 2 seasons, the situations were similar. But 1 friend with very similar qualities and strength with my L15 team are grouped with it in the same league.