March Madness 2016: Wisconsin gets No. 7 seed, will play Pittsburgh in opening round

The Wisconsin Badgers received a No. 7 seed will face Pittsburgh in the opening round of the NCAA tournament in St. Louis on Friday.

The Badgers enter the tournament 20-12 and 12-6 in Big Ten play, both positive results stemming from the way Wisconsin finished the season. After a poor non-conference slate and the surprise, sudden retirement of Bo Ryan, the Badgers managed to win 11 of their final 14 games under Greg Gard, now the permanent head coach after having his interim label removed earlier this month.

Wisconsin enters the tournament on a two-game losing streak after dropping its regular season finale to Purdue and Big Ten Tournament opener against Nebraska. Coming off back-to-back Final Four appearances, the Badgers will look to reach the final weekend for the third consecutive season.

If Wisconsin defeats the Panthers in the first round, it will play the winner of the 2 vs. 15 match up between Xavier and Weber State to reach the Sweet Sixteen. The top seed in the region is North Carolina.

The Badgers and Panthers played in the second round in 2004, with Wisconsin falling 59-55.

Pittsburgh went 21-11 (9-9 in ACC play) and are ranked No. 45, per KenPom.com.

The complete bracket is below.