For the No. 14 Wisconsin Badgers, the calendar finally lands on game day as they welcome Illinois to Camp Randall Stadium.

Check out below for a reminder of how to catch all the action for the first game of the 2020 season, along with all of BadgerBlitz.com's content throughout the week leading up to the Big Ten West clash!

Who: No. 14 Wisconsin Badgers vs. Illinois

When: Friday, Oct. 23, 7 p.m. CT

Where: Camp Randall Stadium; Madison, Wis.

TV: Big Ten Network; Brandon Gaudin on play-by-play, James Laurinaitis as the analyst, and Rick Pizzo serving as the sideline reporter.

Where to stream the game: Via FOX Sports app

Radio: Badger Sports Network with Matt Lepay on play-by-play, Mike Lucas and Mark Tauscher as analysts, and Patrick Herb assigned to sideline reporting duties.

Stream Radio: iHeartRadio.com (WIBA), Sirius 84, XM 84.

*McNamara: Wisconsin releases Week 1 depth chart for Friday's game against Illinois

*Kocorowski: Notebook: Garrett Groshek on fullbacks; more praise for Chimere Dike

*Kocorowski: Sixth-year OL Jon Dietzen "feels good" on path back to Wisconsin football

*Kocorowski: 3-2-1: It's Game Week (subscription required)

*Worgull: At Tight End, Wisconsin Finally as Depth in Numbers (subscription required)

*Worgull: The BadgerBlitz.com Podcast, Ep.122: Breaking Down the 2020 Wisconsin Badgers

*Worgull: Notes: Ball Security Critical for Wisconsin Against Ballhawking Illinois

*Kocorowski: Notebook: Jim Leonhard talks Wisconsin CBs, versatile Rachad Wildgoose (subscription required)

*McNamara: On the recruiting front: Wisconsin Badgers vs. Illinois Fighting Illini (subscription required)

*BadgerBlitz.com Staff: The 3Cs: Illinois Fighting Illini vs. Wisconsin Badgers

*Worgull: All-Out Blitz: Illinois

*Kocorowski: Previewing Illinois with Orange and Blue News

*Worgull and Kocorowski: The BadgerBlitz.com Podcast, Ep. 123: Wisconsin-Illinois Preview

*Check out Jake's time on "The Doug Russell Podcast" from Friday!

*Worgull: Five Burning Questions: No.14 Wisconsin vs. Illinois (subscription required)

Be sure to check out Ben on the "Wickett ON Wisconsin" podcast from earlier this week!

SENIOR WRITER BENJAMIN WORGULL

Wisconsin enters the 2020 season coming off the most successful decade in school history, a 10-year run in which it won 102 games (sixth-most nationally), produced 11 consensus first-team All-Americans, claimed three Big Ten titles, made six appearances in the Big Ten Championship Game and played in six New Year’s Six bowl games.

That’s a pretty special run to push UW into a new decade, but nobody ever remotely thought the Badgers would start the next decade playing in a global pandemic without any fans in the stands. Camp Randall is going to feel spooky tonight and not in the Halloween sense. That’s bad news for UW, which created one of the great home-field advantage over the past decade (61-8, .884 win percentage) and good news for Illinois, which upset the Badgers as 30-point underdogs last year and have the personnel to do it this year as 20-point dogs.

There will be a lot of eyes on Graham Mertz, the quarterback phenom making his first collegiate start, but there are a lot of other things that merit attention. How will the three new interior offensive line starters fair? Who becomes the playmakers on an offense that must replace several big pieces? Can the unheralded Wisconsin special teams be a rock-solid unit? There’s a lot of unknowns to wonder about.

Tonight will be strength on strength, as Illinois’ passing attack (QB Brandon Peters, WR Josh Imatorbhebh, TE Luke Ford and others working behind four returning OL starters) will go against Wisconsin’s deep secondary unit. The winner of that matchup likely wins the game.

The other factor is if Wisconsin can run the ball with efficiency. Two-time Doak Walker Award winner Jonathan Taylor is gone, but senior Garrett Groshek and sophomore Nakia Watson will be running against an Illinois defense that struggled to stop teams last year and have three new DL starters. That’s encouraging for UW to get its footing for its new look run game.

It probably won’t be the cleanest game, but this Wisconsin team will likely have to win dirty more often than not this season. In a game that will have a lot of eyes on Mertz, expect UW’s defense to steal the show.

Wisconsin 24, Illinois 17

SENIOR WRITER JAKE KOCOROWSKI

The Wisconsin Badgers kick off their 2019 fashion at home, but without fans in the stands, the home cookin' inside Camp Randall Stadium won't have the same atmosphere as most fall weekends.

Despite Vegas holding Illinois as a 19.5-point underdog, Lovie Smith's team could present some problems for Wisconsin. It will be fun watching UW's secondary take on Josh Imatorbhebhe and Luke Ford in the passing game, and we'll see if Jim Leonhard's defense can lock down and negate any chunk plays while putting pressure in the backfield without Chris Orr or Zack Baun.

For Wisconsin's offense, there are far more questions for Paul Chryst's program with no Jonathan Taylor, Quintez Cephus, Tyler Biadasz, and (at least indefinitely) Jack Coan. Will an Illinois defense that has an annual precedent of creating turnovers be able to do so against redshirt freshman Graham Mertz, who's starting his first game under center? Will the stereotypical rushing attack get on track for the cardinal and red, and can Danny Davis, Kendric Pryor and Jake Ferguson potentially keep the defense honest through the air to prevent their foes from stacking the box?

That said, I see Wisconsin locking down Illinois's run game without Reggie Corbin or Dee Brown, forcing a one-dimensional attack. I also believe the Badgers being able to run more against their Big Ten West foe with a reloaded offensive line, which could open up some play action and big plays.

I think Wisconsin starts the season off with a win, though not covering the spread.

Wisconsin 31, Illinois 17.

STAFF WRITER RAUL VAZQUEZ

It’s always tough to predict what a team will look like in their season opener but that becomes exceptionally difficult this year without any look into preseason practices. That said, I have far more confidence in what the defense will be able to do right out of the gate. However, combine the fact that Wisconsin is replacing a number of starters on offense with the Illini returning key players on their defense from a year ago, and you can expect the offense to struggle a little bit. I predict UW will pull this out but not to the tune of 19 points that they are favored by.

Wisconsin 27, Illinois 16

For BadgerBlitz.com subscribers, be sure to check out our game thread in our Badgers' Den forum later today!