It's time to press the panic button on the Wisconsin Badgers basketball team

The Wisconsin Badgers are nearly a third of the way through the regular season, yet what they've shown on the court isn't a good sign for their long-term outlook.

Dec 10, 2025; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers forward Pryce Sandfort (21) shoots a three point basket against Wisconsin Badgers guard Nick Boyd (2) and guard John Blackwell (25) during the first half at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-Imagn Images | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Wisconsin looked to be turning a corner after blowing Northwestern out of the water and dismantling Marquette in back-to-back games earlier this month.

They seemingly righted some of their wrongs from the blowout defeats against BYU and TCU from the start of the season — contests where Wisconsin was disjointed, out-physicaled and out-hustled.

The Badgers didn't shy away from a physical Marquette team, and they came as close to playing a full 40 minutes of quality basketball as they had all season.

But they reverted to old habits against Nebraska, being stomped in what was the worst loss of the Greg Gard era.

The 30-point margin of victory is the worst loss for Wisconsin since March 2002.

It's the #Badgers worst loss in a conference game since losing by 32 in January 2002.

— Benjamin Worgull (@TheBadgerNation) December 11, 2025

Given the expectations the Badgers had leading up to the season and their play against quality opponents, it's officially time to press the panic button.

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Wisconsin's issues have been repetitive

The Badgers' three losses have all been a similar story.

They've faced a talented opponent who plays with physicality. For brief stretches, Wisconsin matches that physicality. But most of the game, the Badgers mentally or physically aren't tough enough to do what it takes to beat a quality opponent.

One word to describe this #Badgers team? Frustrating.
Go from extended stretches of aggressive, selfless offense and active defense to lazy off-ball coverage/movement and ill-advised decisions.

TCU has made tough shots but Wisconsin isn't going to win many games like this.

— Cam Wilhorn (@CamWilhorn) November 29, 2025

That's shown up on the stat sheet.

In defeat, Wisconsin has been outscored in the paint by an average of 12.6 points. In fact, they've been outscored in the paint in five of their six games against power conference opponents.

The Badgers have also been out-rebounded in all three of their losses. That's happened just once in their wins.

Both of those speak to the lack of toughness Wisconsin exudes physically.

Mentally, they have far too many defensive lapses and turnovers. Wisconsin has turned the ball over double-digit times in four games, including all three losses.

BYU and Nebraska each averaged 1.34 points per possession. Wisconsin has only averaged 1.34 points or more per possession against NIU, SIUE and Campbell, which shows just how poor the Badgers' defense was in those two particular losses.

Though they are just 10 games into the season, Wisconsin's consistent shortcomings in these categories paint the picture of a flawed team, not one with a few outlier performances.

Lack of focus and effort

The Badgers aren't taking losses because of a lack of talent. Un untalented team wouldn't be able to dominate Northwestern and Marquette the way Wisconsin did.

On both ends, Wisconsin goes through stretches of minimal focus and effort. That was clear against Nebraska, specifically.

Wisconsin didn't attempt a two-point field goal for nine minutes of game time, instead launching 13 consecutive threes.

During Wisconsin's nine-minute stretch without a 2pt field goal attempt, only three times did a #Badgers player have the ball and two feet in the paint.

They scored on all three possessions.

— Cam Wilhorn (@CamWilhorn) December 11, 2025

The Badgers refused to attack the basket and swing the basketball, settling for contested threes while the rest of the team stood around off-ball.

On the defensive side, Wisconsin's rotations were slow or non-existent. Nebraska took advantage of the Badgers' defenders' ball-watching by making cuts or repositioning to an open area to receive a pass.

Minimal solutions on roster

Greg Gard didn't mince words talking about the Badgers defense this season.

"We don't have a defensive identity. Haven't had one all year," Gard said. "So, we'll search to find one, and I'lll find guys that want to play defense [and] stick guys on the bench."

Benchings aren't something Gard has shied away from. He sent Austin Rapp to the second unit after a few particularly poor performances.

Starting lineup for the Wisconsin #Badgers as they take on Marquette:

Nick Boyd
John Blackwell
Andrew Rohde
Aleksas Bieliauskas
Nolan Winter

Austin Rapp will come off the bench for the second straight game. pic.twitter.com/YhqS38Olrz

— Jed Katz (@JedKatz_) December 6, 2025

The issue is, Wisconsin isn't in a position to go deeper in its bench or offer significantly more minutes to its current second unit.

Related: What options do the Wisconsin Badgers have to shake up their struggling defense

Their offseason strategy centered around filling out the starting five with Nick Boyd, Andrew Rohde and Rapp, at the expense of the second unit.

Wisconsin banked on Jack Janicki taking a step forward and getting significant production from its four-player freshman class. That hasn't panned out.

Will offering more minutes to an already struggling second unit provide a solution? Perhaps in the effort department, but it's hard to believe it will be a positive on the scoreboard based on what we've seen so far.

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