Wisconsin's 2 Los Angeles-Based Opponents are Trending in Opposite Directions

The Badgers' supposedly easy Big Ten slate this fall already looks a lot different four weeks into the season.

Iowa on the road on Halloween, for example, was always going to be an extremely challenging game. The Hawkeyes have owned Wisconsin as of late (79-10 is the combined final score of the previous two meetings), and Kinnick Stadium can be a brutal environment.

Now, however, that game looks even more difficult as Iowa is ranked No. 14 in the country after a 4-0 start with a win over Michigan on the road to kick off Big Ten play. If Iowa beats Ohio State this week? Woo boy, does that game look harder.

But two games on the schedule in particular appear to be trending in complete opposite directions, difficulty-wise. The two teams just so happen to be the Big Ten's two Los Angeles-based programs: USC and UCLA.

At UCLA (Oct. 17)

UCLA Bruins linebacker Trent Hendrick (25), center with arms folded, leads the celebration in the end zone after making an interception. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

It's safe to say that hiring Bob Chesney from JMU was an absolute no-doubter, bat-flipping home run for UCLA. The Bruins are 4-0 with three wins over Power Four opponents already, having already surpassed the three games they won last fall. They find themselves ranked No. 23, back in the AP poll for the first time since 2023.

You think Chesney understands what the Big Ten is all about? Through four games, his team ranks No. 3 in the country in rushing yards per game with 281.5. JMU running back transfer Wayne Knight has 445 rushing yards (9.1 yards per carry) and nine touchdowns already. The offense as a whole is the 11th-ranked total offense in the nation.

The Bruins are also stopping the run with tremendous efficiency as well, allowing just 91.3 rushing yards per game, good for No. 17 nationally in that category. They've racked up nine sacks and eight interceptions on defense.

In other words, the Chesney effect is real. This team is not only immediately upgraded from the previous couple seasons of aimless, uninspiring football in Westwood, but it also already looks like a sneaky contender in the Big Ten. Last week, UCLA absolutely blew the doors off an admittedly awful Maryland squad, 52-3.

We'll find out a lot more about the Bruins this week when they travel to Eugene to face No. 15 Oregon. And while they've looked mightily impressive, they've also played a disappointing California team, San Diego State and two Big Ten bottom feeders in Maryland and Purdue. Still, UCLA now — somewhat unthinkably — looks like one of the toughest remaining games on the Badgers' schedule.

Vs. USC (Oct. 24)

Oregon quarterback Dante Moore is hit after sliding by USC linebacker Desman Stephens II. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

A week after flying out to Califorina to face the Bruins, the Badgers will return home to take on the Big Ten's other L.A-based program. The Trojans, however, have been a bitter disappointment this fall.

2026 was viewed as the year head coach Lincoln Riley had to put it together. After he followed up a 7-6 season in the Trojans' first year in the Big Ten with a 9-4 campaign last fall, returning his Heisman candidate quarterback Jayden Maiava, it was playoffs of bust for USC. After getting trounced by Oregon at home (with Ducks' backup quarterback Dylan Raiola in; more on that later), USC has done absolutely nothing impressive this season.

Its defense allowed San Jose State, Louisiana-Lafayette and Rutgers to score 26, 30 and 35 points, respectively. Sure, it has a top-10 total offense and a top-5 passing offense, but what good does that do when the Ragin Cajuns' put up 30 points on you?

But besides the typical lackluster defense we've come to expect from each and every Lincoln Riley team, there appears to be a severe culture problem at USC. The Trojans' local media largely turned on Riley after he essentially refused to acknowledge the vicious dirty hit that his linebacker Desman Stephens II laid on Ducks' quarterback Dante Moore, after which he proceeded to celebrate and fail to demonstrate any visable concern for a player he had just knocked unconcious. The Trojans later suspended Stephens for a game, but the reputational damage was done.

USC has clashes with Washington and Penn State on tap before it travels to Madison to face Wisconsin. After that, the Trojans have to face Ohio State and Indiana back-to-back. It's fair to wonder whether Riley will survive the season at this point.

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