Big 12 better positioned for playoff this time around

This time last year, the Big 12 was in a very different spot.

A much worse spot.

Oklahoma was in the middle of a tailspin. Oklahoma State was in the middle of a five-game losing streak. And the college football world was skeptical about the bona fides of budding powers Baylor and TCU.

As a result, the Big 12 became the only Power 5 conference left out of the inaugural playoff, despite boasting a pair of worthy 11-1 teams from Waco and Fort Worth, leading to an offseason of teeth gnashing across the league landscape.

On Tuesday, the College Football Playoff selection committee will unveil its first set of rankings of 2015, and it's certainly understandable why people along the Interstate 35…