Not every top team in the nation can couple the country’s best defense and offense. Well, when Wisconsin travels to face Ohio State on October 26, it’ll be a clash of two of the nation’s top teams on both sides of the ball.

Yeah, there’s still a game the Badgers have to play this weekend, but the game will be billed as one the best NCAA game of the season as two top-six teams will face, and it might be two top-five teams by the time the rankings come out. This will be the second time this month two top-eight teams will battle. LSU and Florida staged the first one a couple of weeks ago.

These two teams have two of the top defenses in the entire NCAA.

The Badgers, for example, have shut out four of their six opponents thus far. They’re the only defense to allow under 200 yards per game. It’s not even close either as they hold opponents to a mere 173.7 yards.

However, the Buckeyes are right behind them. Ohio State was second in the NCAA in opponent’s yards per game going into last night — allowing 234. Clemson and Ohio State’s late-November opponent, Penn State, comes in third and fourth.

Ohio State and Wisconsin appear to be on huge collision course https://t.co/qx1tTA3F9k — Buckeyes Wire (@BuckeyesWire) October 13, 2019

Offensively, while differently structured, it’s more of the same.

Wisconsin and Ohio State both have top-ten producing offenses. The two teams each rank in the top-eight in points and touchdowns. But, they get those scores differently.

Ohio State uses a more wholesome approach, killing teams through the air and on the ground, while Wisconsin is more of a ground-and-pound offense. When you have potential first-round pick, Jonathon Taylor, you’d be foolish not to be.

As for Ohio State, Justin Fields is also a running threat, one reason why the Buckeyes are so dangerous, ranking third in the country per game on the ground while Wisconsin sits just outside the top ten. But it was J.K. Dobbins actually leading the Big Ten in yards on the ground and was second in the country going into this weekend’s slate of games.

That said, this game will be a fight in the trenches.

Whoever will come out on top will do so by stopping the other team on the ground. Can Ohio State’s defensive line step up when it matters most? We’ll find out next weekend.