The Wisconsin Badgers sit at 5-2 overall and 3-1 in the Big Ten, and their College Football Playoff chances are still alive. That alone is worth paying attention to. But a playoff path for Wisconsin will take more than winning its own games.

Using the A to Z Sports College Football Playoff predictor tool, we can see where the Badgers stand entering Week 9 and which games around the country could move the needle. Here is your rooting guide for this weekend.

Why the Badgers need help starting this week

Wisconsin fans will be locked in on Iowa in the Big Noon slot on Saturday. A win over the Hawkeyes is the first box to check, and the most important one. Nothing else on this list matters if the Badgers drop that game.

So the immediate question becomes, what else has to break Wisconsin’s way? With a 12% chance to make the playoff, the Badgers can’t just take care of their own business and hope the committee rewards them. They are going to need help, and that help needs to start now.

The good news is two games on the Week 9 slate offer a clear path to better odds.

Root for USC against Ohio State

Up first is arguably the game of the weekend: the USC Trojans against the Ohio State Buckeyes.

There isn’t much clarity for the Buckeyes on who will start at quarterback. What we do know is that for the first time since Will Howard won a national championship for Ohio State, the starter will not be Julian Sayin. That is a big development, and it gives USC a better shot at knocking off the Buckeyes than it would have had otherwise.

That makes the Trojans the first team Wisconsin fans should be pulling for. According to the playoff predictor, a USC win over Ohio State boosts the Badgers’ playoff chances by 2% on its own, regardless of what Wisconsin does against Iowa.

In a race where every percentage point counts, a two-point bump from a game you aren’t even playing in is significant.

Root for Auburn against Ole Miss

The second game takes us to the SEC, where Wisconsin fans should be rooting for the Auburn Tigers to beat the Ole Miss Rebels.

If Ole Miss drops this one, it would be the Rebels’ third loss. Consider who those losses would come against. Florida and Auburn are not viewed as the top of the SEC. A third loss, with two of them coming against teams outside the conference’s upper tier, would essentially rule Ole Miss out of the playoff conversation.

That would give Wisconsin a 1% boost in its playoff odds. It’s not a massive jump, but taking a contender off the board is exactly the kind of thing the Badgers need to see happen across the country over the next several weeks.

What it all means for Wisconsin

Wisconsin’s path is narrow, but it exists. Beat Iowa, let USC and Auburn do their part, and the Badgers could leave Week 9 in a noticeably better spot than they entered it.

A 12% chance isn’t much. Still, it’s a lot better than zero, and in late October that keeps Wisconsin in the conversation.