Before I begin, I want to address all necessary caveats that come with this post, so let's get them out of the way: Just win baby, focus on one game at a time, the only rankings that matter come out next week, just put us in the final four and we're good, and finally, it doesn't matter who we play, we're going to win, bring ieart on! Hope I didn't miss any.

Now, after looking at the committee's rankings this week, I can't help but notice some points of interest when it comes to some previous opponents of ours, namely Michigan, Cincinnati, and Wisconsin. The most surprising aspect of the rankings to me was Michigan only dropping one spot after Ryan Day's crew embarrased them at home, causing them to remain at 14, or within the top 15. Then, I thought about how far Wisconsin might drop if/when we beat them next weekend, and realized that in all likelihood, Michigan acts as a kind of buffer so that Wisconsin stays in the top 15 regardless of how we do against them, because they would remain above the Michigan team that they beat earlier this year. As a results, after beating Wisconsin for a second time, the Bucks would have 4 top-15 wins, the same number as LSU.

Why is this important? It's very simple. LSU's main claim to being ranked over us is the sheer number of quality wins they have this year. Because they played more ranked teams earlier than we did, this argument largely held weight but now that we have defeated Michigan and Penn State, our overall dominance, or the eye test, causes the committee to have us higher with the number of quality wins being equal. Since Michigan and Wisconsin look primed to remain in the top-15, our number of quality wins should remain the same as LSU, allowing us to remain ranked at the top unless we play badly against Wisconsin. 

As a side note, LSU fans are freaking out about these rankings, drawing up ridiculous conspiracy theories. Check that out here: https://www.tigerdroppings.com/rant/lsu-sports/playoff-committee-is-a-freaking-joke/87144837/