Can USC bring the noise and shut up Wisconsin and Barry Alvarez after stunning comments

Barry Alvarez is Wisconsin football royalty, having guided the Badgers to three Rose Bowl victories and more wins than any other coach in program history.But the retiree did his beloved school no favors this week heading into its showdown with No.16 USC.On “The Barry Alvarez Show,” the 79-year-old said the Trojans were “not used to a full stadium with a loud house where they have to deal with the noise.”Uh, coach?Did you not notice where USC played its last game? All those fans dressed in white? The deafening din?Just two weeks ago, the Trojans silenced most of the 114,419 in attendance for Penn State’s White Out at Beaver Stadium, pulling away for a 31-23 victory.“It feels like a movie,” USC quarterback Jayden Maiava said of playing in that kind of environment.Alvarez must have missed that given his comments.“We have the advantage in this situation – huge advantage,” Alvarez said as the Trojans prepared to face the Badgers inside 76,030-seat Camp Randall Stadium.

“ … We’re putting Southern Cal in a position they don’t normally get into, so let’s really make it tough on them.”As if the gist of his message wasn’t incendiary enough, Alvarez added more bulletin-board material by referring to USC as Southern Cal – a nickname the school hates.Will those words come back to haunt Wisconsin?Here are five things to watch when the Trojans (6-1 overall, 3-1 Big Ten) face the Badgers (4-2, 2-1) at 4:30 p.m.PDT on NBC:Not only has USC played before sellout crowds in two of its last three games, the Trojans also practice while being bombarded by a sound system that some players have likened to a jet buzzing the field.The sound system is part of the new $225-million Bloom Performance Center that has enhanced almost every aspect of the Trojans’ program.Massive speakers attached to light poles at each end of the field replaced an old system in which the team used portable speakers.“Those are loud,” coach Lincoln Riley said of the old speak...