For much of Bo Ryan's tenure, Wisconsin has been one of college basketball's most dependable teams.
That's why it's so jarring that this year's Badgers have been more up and down than the price of gas.
One night they're losing at home to hapless Western Illinois. The next they're taking down Atlantic 10 power VCU. One night they're scoring a mere 48 points in a blowout loss to Oklahoma. The next they're upsetting 14th-ranked Syracuse at the Carrier Dome.
The latest unpredictable result came Wednesday night when Wisconsin suffered another home loss against a small-conference foe. This time it was Milwaukee who celebrated on the floor of the Kohl Center after edging the Badgers 68-67.
Milwaukee trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half, but the Panthers rallied by limiting Wisconsin to just one field goal and four foul shots over a 10-possession stretch during the final minutes. Bronson Koenig missed a last-second 3-pointer to seal the Badgers' fate.
If the Western Illinois loss was a complete shocker for Wisconsin, this one was nearly as surprising. Milwaukee was picked third in the Horizon League before the season and owns a 7-3 record, but the Panthers hadn't defeated the Badgers since 1992 and had already suffered losses against middling Duquesne and Murray State this season.
What was especially disconcerting for Wisconsin was that it lost despite a career-high 32 points from forward Nigel Hayes. The rest of his teammates shot 11 of 37 from the field and nobody besides Koenig and Hayes scored more than 10 points.
The Badgers' 36.4 percent shooting reflects their season-long offensive struggles. They're shooting 32.2 percent from behind the arc and 45.5 percent from inside it, a far cry from the last couple years when departed stars Frank Kaminsky, Sam Dekker and Josh Gasser powered one of the nation's most efficient offenses.
In Ryan's previous 14 seasons in Madison, Wisconsin has never finished below a tie for fourth place in the Big Ten and has never failed to make the NCAA tournament. The Badgers have weathered roster turnover in previous years, but losing five of their top seven players from the national runner-up has so far proven more difficult to overcome.

The encouraging aspect for Wisconsin is that it hasn't reached its ceiling yet. Redshirt freshman center Ethan Happ has shown flashes of emerging as an impact player, Khalil Iverson has also shown glimpses of promise and veterans Vitto Brown and Zak Showalter are still growing into larger roles.
But even in mid-December, time is of the essence for the Badgers. They've already taken two bad losses. In a year when the Big Ten isn't as deep as it usually is, they can't afford too many more.
- - - - - - -
Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
Follow @JeffEisenberg