MADISON, Wis. – Like many of his fellow University of Wisconsin teammates, Badgers junior cornerback Faion Hicks experienced the gamut of emotions in the minutes, hours and days following the Big Ten’s decision to cancel the fall sports season. It’s part of the reason while he called it "a breath of fresh air" when the conference announced last month that he could start playing football again.

“Guys were excited. It’s just good to be back playing football,” he said. “It’s kind of tough to imagine being out a whole year of no football, no practicing. It was kind of tough to have that mindset of being hopeful with everything going on, but once we got that news, the whole group was just excited.”

There’s no question that there will be a set of unique challenges for the 14 Big Ten teams when games begin next weekend: daily COVID-19 testing, social distancing, a truncated schedule and other unforeseen complications of playing organized sports in a global pandemic.

One of the oddest things, however, will happen Friday night when the Badgers open their season against Illinois in primetime, an environment where Wisconsin’s program usually comes alive. Since night games first started at Camp Randall in 1986, the Badgers are 17-6 at home under the lights, including victories in 10 of their last 11 games. The 80,000-seat Camp Randall Stadium is loud, the student section is at capacity and the energy is palpable. This year it will resemble a public library.