MADISON, Wis. – If life was normal, Greg Gard and the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team would already have a handful of games under their belt and be in sunny Fort Myers, Fla., getting ready for its Thanksgiving tournament opener tonight.

Instead, No.7 Wisconsin is opening its season at home, partnering with Marquette for a Multi-Team Event. Strange times, indeed.

“The collective group is super excited to finally get out there and play against somebody other than our team finally for once,” senior guard D’Mitrik Trice said earlier this week. “It’s going to be fun. It’s going to be interesting.”

“Interesting” could be the perfect adjective to encapsulate sports in 2020, something the Badgers know all too well.

Led by seven seniors, including four returning starters, Wisconsin (1-0) wraps up the first weekend of the college basketball season by hosting Arkansas-Pine Bluff (0-1) at a fan-less Kohl Center tonight (8 p.m./BTN).

The Badgers are returning 79.7 percent of its scoring, 83.6 percent of its rebounding, 86.1 percent of its assists and 77.5 percent of its minutes from a team that last season won a share of the Big Ten regular season title. And as UW’s 77-67 victory over Eastern Illinois Wednesday night demonstrated, the Badgers have some true freshmen – like forward Ben Carlson (13 pts in 17 minutes) and guard Jonathan Davis (8 pts in 15 minutes) - who could start to carve out roles for themselves.

How the team’s dynamic and chemistry will jell together is usually something the staff has a pulse on by the opener. However, in addition to the delayed start to the season, Wisconsin didn’t have its usual exhibition game against an in-state college and closed-door scrimmage against another D-1 school.

Even with the season starting two weeks behind schedule, the coronavirus has already caused more than 40 of the 357 Division I programs to be paused in quarantine or cancel their season altogether. Ole Miss, Tennessee and Wichita State are some of the latest schools to suspend all activities because of COVID-19, while preseason No.1 Baylor, No.8 Duke and No.20 Oregon have canceled non-conference games.

“Once we saw what was happening, it kind of foreshadowed how this was going to be,” Gard said. “We saw how (the Thanksgiving tournament) started to unravel and what the possibilities were, what was going to happen. Exactly what we think we thought was going to happen is happening.”

To try to formulate a schedule, Gard and director of basketball operations Matt Vandewettering had to get creative.

In addition to a tournament around Thanksgiving, Wisconsin’s nonconference schedule typically includes a couple of Power Five conference schools and at least a road game in a hostile environment. Gard said this week that the staff looked at playing in other exempt events but figured issues would arise with teams canceling appearances at the last minute.

With concern of consistency of testing and travel, especially with the Center for Disease Control advising against air travel, Gard was hesitant.

“There was going to be some 11th-hour cancellations,” Gard said. “The last thing I wanted to do was fly somewhere and spend that time of money and have an opponent we can’t play, or the event fall apart.”

Desperate times call for unusual measures, such as partnering with Marquette for this week’s multi-team event. When UW was hosting Eastern Illinois, the Gophers Eagles were playing Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Tonight, the two schools trade spots. While in the Midwest, the Golden Lions will also play Iowa State, Northwestern and Saint Louis to play five games in 11 days.

With the program contracted for the Big Ten/ACC opponent (Louisville Dec.9) and continuing its series against Marquette (Dec.4), UW filled out the remaining of the abbreviated nonconference schedule by prioritizing location over competition, as Green Bay and Northern Iowa are short bus drives to Madison. UW also has a TBD game scheduled for Dec.12.

The Badgers reworked their contracts for their home games to include COVID-19 protocols. Opponents must test all Tier 1 individuals within 48 hours of leaving and then be tested twice after arriving, including two to six hours before tipoff. Wisconsin or the Big Ten cover the expenses.

“The more we can stay here, the more we could control at least our environment to a degree, nothing is fail-safe, but at least we’ve got a routine,” Gard said. “Hopefully it increases our odds and gives us a better chance to be able to play games. Really that’s the ultimate goal right now, try and play as many games as possible and see where it takes us.”

Gard has also said that the Badgers have been in contact with teams within a bus drive to fill in for a canceled game on short notice. He didn’t mention specific teams but looking at a map would seem to bring DePaul, Drake, Iowa State, Milwaukee, Northern Illinois and Western Illinois (coached by former UW assistant Rob Jeter) into the fold.

“If we have to have back-pocket games and quick replacements, we can do that,” Gard said. “You make the most of the situation that’s going to be dealt. This gives us the best chance to get to seven nonconference games and also gives us some flexibility to replace opponents if we have to do that.”

Gard preaches the cliché one day at a time during normal situations and seasons, but it’s a phrase that really relates to a sport trying to start its season during a global pandemic that already canceled NCAA tournaments eight months ago.

While there likely has been a lot of uneasiness, Wisconsin is ready to get started.

“I know it’s been hit and miss as things have unfolded across the country with other games that have postponed or canceled,” Gard said. “Our guys are excited to get back on the floor and play a game … It’s time to go play. I know our guys are excited about it.”