I'll state this, I've played since the beta, I really have little interest in leveling, though sometimes I will go for it. While most of the valid points have already been said, there was a point in time in which there were no novice lobbies, you'd have level 1/1/1's mixed in with 5/3/6's and the like, sure you'd be stomped from time to time, but if your crew isn't communicating with one another you aren't going to do a very good job of things. Even further there was a time when there were no levels, so you'd only know someone's skill by reputation or actually knowing them.
Main point? You may be locked out of novice lobbies, yet if you have a grasp of how to play the game and can teach your friends how to play as well you can probably jump into a normal lobby together and have a bash at that, knowing your concern about getting completely 5-Zilled here and there, you will lose, I've had some terrible games that ended up in total defeat, however if you are learning from why you lost you can play better the next round and even beat them.