I'm not sure I would agree with the poster you replied to that Iowa State is poised to be top 3 in the Big 12 next year.
However, I also would pretty strongly disagree with your post. Considering that we beat both OSU and KSU this year, I have a hard time saying that they are "definitely ahead of us" in any way.
I feel like OSU and UU have had a extended success, so they would be at the top of my Big12 ranking. Then KU and UA are trending upward and should have success as long as their current coaches stay. After that, I feel teams 5-10 with be interchangeable year-to-year. So the opportunity is there for ISU.
But unlike the Walden, McCarney, Chizek and Rhoads tenures, I haven't felt we are significantly inferior to any future Big12 team in regard to size, speed, etc. There were times in ISU's history where we looked like a HS team- completely overmatched physically.