Despite coming off a disappointing and flat-out un-inspiring loss on the road at No. 12 UCLA in Week 7, the Badgers have a chance to immediately bounce back in a massive way.
The No. 16 USC Trojans await Saturday night in Madison. In an absolutely make-or-break year for Trojans' head coach Lincoln Riley, USC is off to a good start, sitting at 6-1 (3-1 B1G) and perched just outside the top-15 of the AP Poll.
USC had a rough 41-27 loss to Oregon in Week 4 in which they got shredded by Ducks' backup quarterback Dylan Raiola, but they've since bounced back with two straight victories at home against Washington and on the road against Penn State in the White-Out game.
What's more, the Trojans are absolutely stacked with talent. Their offense, in particular, has too many dangerous playmakers to name and quarterback Jayden Maiava is second in the nation in passing yards with 2,045.
Yet somehow, Wisconsin is just a narrow 2.5-point underdog on FanDuel Sportsbook. Despite USC's clear talent advantage and momentum from two straight Big Ten victories, Vegas expects this game to be awfully close. A big reason why is undoubtably the fact that the Badgers get to play this game at home, in front of what they're hoping will be a raucous Saturday night crowd.
USC, again, is coming off a road win at Penn State in the White-Out game in Happy Valley, one of the most intimidating environments in the sport regardless of how good the Nittany Lions are. Still, Trojans' head coach Lincoln Riley understands what his program is walking into Saturday night in Madison.
Lincoln Riley lauds Wisconsin's home atmosphere
“I haven’t been to Wisconsin yet either, I know the atmosphere and home field advantage that they have is something that you’re very aware of in this sport. So I think it’s one we’re all looking forward to. Have a real healthy respect for the challenge of playing there, playing this team there," he told reporters Tuesday.
Camp Randall Stadium hasn't been itself recently, but a night game against a ranked opponent in a pretty crucial game for both programs should draw a good crowd. Wisconsin is going to need every bit of energy from its home crowd to knock off the high-flying Trojans.
Head coach Luke Fickell has yet to author a true signature win at Camp Randall Stadium, but he has pulled off two ranked upsets in Madison, both of which came last season in a night game (Washington, Illinois).
The Badgers have also knocked on the doorstep of upsets after dark at Camp Randall Stadium, like the 2024 narrow 16-13 defeat at the hands of No. 1 Oregon, or the 2023 24-10 home loss to No. 3 Ohio State that was a one-score game until the fourth quarter.
Camp Randall Stadium at nighttime does seemingly posses certain magical properties. Wisconsin is going to need every last bit to upset No. 16 USC.
Add us as a preferred source on Google