The romance of a Big Ten football team coming from the Midwest to sunny Southern California for a big game is undeniable. Usually, of course, that delicious scenario has played out mostly in the Rose Bowl Game, the first bowl game and the most famous one. Wisconsin has played USC and UCLA in Rose Bowls over the years. Those trips were really special for the Badgers and their fans. Getting to come to Los Angeles for regular-season games is one of the featured attractions for the old-guard Midwest schools of the Big Ten. However, as Wisconsin prepares to play USC, none of that really matters. Wisconsin is facing the urgent task of survival, as Badgers Wire’s Ben Kenney explains:
“I think most of the focus is on Wisconsin’s standing in the new conference landscape,” Kenney told us. “2019 is now a long time ago, and the Badgers have yet to return to that quality. So yes, the trip to Los Angeles (and) California truly begins that era for the Badgers and their fans. But I think more focus is on the big-picture state of the Wisconsin program than the new conference.”
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