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BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — The newest bowl assignment for the Wisconsin football team rekindles one of its strangest rivalries.
The Badgers (9-3 overall) learned Sunday that they will face Southern California (8-5) in the Holiday Bowl on Dec. 30 at 9:30 p.m. (CST) at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California.
It will be the first meeting between the schools since 1966, but their six-game series history is filled with legendary quirks.
For one thing, the Trojans have won every outing, including the first bowl appearance by Wisconsin and one of the most famous No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchups in college football history.
For another, losses to USC gave way to two high-profile coaching changes in Madison and ushered in one of the most forgettable periods in Badgers history.
Nine American presidents have sat in the White House, the U.S. population has grown by roughly 122 million and Wisconsin has played 588 football games since the last meeting between the schools.
The Trojans, fresh off a 41-22 loss to Stanford in the Pac-12 Conference championship game Saturday night, have had a tumultuous season.
They won their first two games of the season, topping 50 points in both, but lost three of their next four and made an unexpected coaching change.
On Oct. 11, second-year coach Steve Sarkisian was asked by USC athletic director Pat Haden to take an indefinite leave of absence due to health issues related to alcohol abuse. Sarkisian was fired a day later.
Offensive coordinator Clay Helton was named interim coach. He had the interim tag removed Nov. 30.
Strangely, the Trojans will be the sixth Wisconsin opponent to have made a change in coaches during the 2015 season, joining Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota and Rutgers.
USC lost to four clubs during the regular season and all finished at .500 or better: Stanford 11-2, Notre Dame 10-2, Oregon 9-3 and Washington 6-6.
The Trojans are ranked 35th nationally among 128 Football Bowl Subdivision teams in total offense (449.6 yards gained per game) and 70th in total defense (401.3 yards allowed per game).
On the upside, USC finished among the top 10 in turnover margin (ninth, plus-12).
On the downside, the Trojans ranked 98th in passing defense (254.2 yards allowed per game) and 116th in penalty yardage (69.5 per game).
USC, which beat Nebraska, 45-42, last December in its only other Holiday Bowl appearance, will be looking for its 34th bowl win. Two of those came at the expense of the Badgers after they'd won Big Ten Conference titles.
One was a 7-0 decision in the 1953 Rose Bowl. Alan Ameche, the 1954 Heisman Trophy winner, capped his only 1,000-yard season with 133 in that game for Wisconsin, but it wasn't enough.
Three years later, Ivy Williamson stepped down as Wisconsin coach to take over as the school's athletic director and hired Milt Bruhn as his replacement.Â
The pinnacle of the Bruhn Era came in 1962. After an 8-1 regular season, the Badgers played in one of the greatest, wildest college games ever played.
Top-ranked USC won the 1963 Rose Bowl, 42-37, but the second-rated Badgers scored 23 points in the fourth quarter to set up a frenzied finish. Quarterback Ron Vander Kelen completed 33 of 48 passes for 401 yards and wide receiver Pat Richter caught 11 passes for 163 yards.
Bruhn ran the show through the 1966 season when Wisconsin finished 3-6-1 overall. It lost two games by 35 points, including a 38-3 decision at the hands of USC. While Bruhn became an assistant AD, John Coatta was hired to coach the Badgers.
The Coatta Era lasted only three seasons and saw Wisconsin go 3-26-1, including a 22-game winless streak.
For information on tickets, travel and all things Holiday Bowl, visit UWBowlCentral.com.
