To bypass this you can yolo 2s/3s/or rbgs to 1400 and get to 197 a bit faster. Base conquest is 190 and the first upgrade is unlocked with rating at 1400 that you currently purchase with honor on the beta. If you managed to yolo to 1600 you unlock the 2nd upgrade for your conquest gear granting you 204ish item level with slightly higher than that in your weekly tuesday box.
Honor gear sucks and really shouldn’t even be called honor gear. It does not fulfill the same role of pvp gearing like past iterations of honor gear did.
Challenger = 1600-1799 rated