There's a common opponent to compare. Both teams won in Happy Valley. Wisconsin ground out a 24-20 win at Penn State, and USC won 31-23 there 2 weeks later. Those 2 scores show the styles. Wisconsin's defense held 4 straight opponents to 20 or fewer, Michigan State managed just 3, and the offense only has to do enough. USC wins by putting up points: 49 on Louisiana, 42 at Rutgers, and 31 on the road against Penn State.
Western Illinois36-9USC's 1 loss was at home to Oregon, 41-27, and that's the one game where the Trojans' defense got pushed around. They've won 4 of 5, but the 25-21 win over Washington shows they can get dragged into a close game. Wisconsin's 4-1 stretch includes a lot of padding: Western Illinois and Eastern Michigan combined for 19 points in 2 blowouts. The win at Penn State and the 31-3 rout of Michigan State count for more, and the UCLA loss was the first time this group got held down.
Maiava's receivers are getting thin. C. Simms is out for the season with a knee injury, T. Anderson is out with an undisclosed injury, and R. Tezeno is questionable with a foot problem. USC is also without guard K. O'Connor for the year. Trent Mosley, Tanook Hines and Kayden Dixon-Wyatt all scored at Penn State, so the depth has held up so far. But a Wisconsin secondary that's been stingy all year will test how many healthy receivers USC really has.
The early forecast for Madison is mild: low 60s, cloudy, light wind, almost no chance of rain, which is ideal for a late-October Big Ten game on NBC. A week out, that can still change. The question is simple. If Wisconsin cleans up the mistakes from the Rose Bowl and gets its running backs back, Camp Randall becomes a tough place for a West Coast team to play. If not, a rested USC offense gets a tired, banged-up Badgers team at the right time.