I'm not really following your point I guess. No, we aren't OSU, Bama, Clemson. That's kind of the problem, most of us believe with better coaching for the last decade we would be. Or hell, at the very minimum be the Georgia to OUs Bama in conference (drinks bleach). Not every school can say that. Iowa State can get a great coaching performance out of Matt Campbell but he can't turn them into a perennial contender.
I just don't see parity as a good descriptor of college football. I guess you could say the Big12 has some, OU at the top, and then almost everyone else bunched around the middle with Kansas on the bottom. That isn't a function of those middle teams being especially dangerous compared to the past, it's mainly because Texas has fucked around for a decade and wastes talent year after year. Even as bad as things have been we have recruited significantly better than everyone in the conference every year (save OU), same as always.
The Big12 significantly easier now than it was in 2008 when we had to play 4 consecutive top 10 teams in conference. We still have enough of a talent advantage against most teams on the schedule to expect a fast turnaround on the field if Sark is the real deal.