The University of Wisconsin football team last played a football game January 1, 2020, in Pasadena, California. A total of 260 days has come and gone since. It seems like a lot longer.

The COVID-19 coronavirus has caused Wisconsin and nearly every other college football program to miss out on spring practice, the traditional summer workouts and fall camp and the start of the 2020 season. For the Badgers, it had eliminated their anticipated nonconference game against Notre Dame at Lambeau Field and, until yesterday, taken away a realistic opportunity to compete for a Big Ten championships.

The good news is that the Big Ten came to their senses and announced conference football games will start in late October. With a good portion of that off-the-field drama in the rearview mirror for now, the focus can now return to the Badgers football team and what are the key questions heading into the 2020 season.

With that in mind, let’s look at some of five things Wisconsin will have to answer heading into next month’s season opener.