WHERE: Stegeman Coliseum

WHEN: Sunday, 2 p.m.

TV/RADIO: SEC Network (Kevin Fitzgerald, Daymeon Fishback); Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (Scott Howard, Chuck Dowdle, Adam Gillespie); XM (382).

To say the start to Georgia’s basketball season has been a bit different might be the understatement of the year.

Given the positive Covid tests on both Columbus State and Gardner-Webb, what now stands as Sunday’s opener is against Florida A&M (2 p.m., SEC Network)—a game that wasn't even on the table a week ago.

But Georgia head coach Tom Crean explained, that's the world we now live in.

“We just have to deal with it the best we can. It builds a resilience and builds a maturity,” Crean said Saturday. “It builds a flexibility, and somewhere down the line, the student-athletes that are involved in this—no matter what their sport, male or female—it doesn’t make a difference.”

Per Crean, his Bulldogs just have to be ready to play.

He only wishes he knew what to expect.

“Never. In all my years of being an assistant coach or a head coach—first time I have ever started the season without a scrimmage or an exhibition was back when I was an assistant at Mount Pleasant High School, and an assistant at Alma College,” Crean said. “Even being a grad assistant at Michigan State—you always had exhibitions, and then scrimmages came into play. You've always had an idea. You always had live dress rehearsals, and we don’t have that.”

The Rattlers (0-2), on the other hand, have.

FAMU dropped a 65-56 decision to Florida Gulf Coast last Wednesday, while the Bulldogs were forced back to the gym shortly after their pregame meal that their game against Columbus State was being cancelled.

“Our advantage is they haven’t seen us play. But the bottom line is, we have to control what we can control—they’re going to come in with a level of confidence, because all of those first-game jitters are gone for them,” Crean said. “I don’t think you can underestimate that, no matter who you're playing. But we don’t have that, so we have to deal with it the best we can (Sunday).”

With eight newcomers on this year’s squad—including a trio of grad transfers in Justin Kier, P.J. Horne, and Andrew Garcia—Crean’s hoping the three, and returnees like Sahvir Wheeler, Tye Fagan, and Toumani Camara will jell right away.

“(So far) the teams that executed and really moved the ball and got out and played did well. They didn’t commit a lot of turnovers,” Crean said. “The teams that were connected defensively—the teams that came out and tried to live on pull-up jump shots—tried to live on my-turn shots, gambled defensively, weren’t aware on baseline out of bounds, weren’t aware on free-throw rebounding—those are the ones that struggled.”

One of the teams Crean watched was Samford, which scored 100 points at half before beating an outmanned Division III Greenville, 174-99.

“I definitely turned on Samford when they shot like 179 points—whatever it was. I wanted to see, how do you start? I didn’t have a chance to watch the whole game yet, but I got a chance to watch them score 14 points in the first two-and-a-half minutes,” Crean said. “I wanted to get a feel for that. I think it’s the teams that execute and play together—who don't try to make it about themselves or try to live on their own shots—and really are committed to passing the ball. Those teams have played better, and the teams that haven’t, have struggled.”

NOTE: With last Wednesday’s cancellation, the Bulldogs are expected to add another contest this week against an opponent to be determined.