Bounce-back effort boosts No. 10 Illinois ahead of visit to USC

Tenth-ranked Illinois will take a swing through Los Angeles for a pair of crucial Big Ten Conference games this week, the first on Wednesday night against Southern California.

The Fighting Illini (21-5, 12-3 Big Ten) begin the week in a three-team tie for second place in the league's loss column, knotted with No. 7 Purdue (21-4, 11-3) and No. 9 Nebraska (22-3, 11-3), just behind No. 1 Michigan (24-1, 14-1).

USC (18-7, 7-7) sits in the middle of the conference pack.

Illinois slipped...