This is something that should not be up for debate. USC impressed against Missouri State. Yes, there is an inherent advantage in terms of where the two programs are, as the Bears only recently earned their status as an FBS school.
What some are seemingly forgetting is that all programs play against lesser competition at some point on their schedule. This is true except for Notre Dame. Although it has to be conceded that their ACC competition a lot of times is nowhere near the same level of quality compared to what is faced in the Big Ten.