Oregon's Malik Hairston dunks in this file photo.

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) - It was iffy, but in the end the Oregon Ducks made it back to the NCAA tournament.

Oregon received a No. 9 seed in the South Region and will face Mississippi State on Friday in Little Rock, Ark.

Oregon (18-13) was considered a bubble team for the tournament.

The Ducks returned four starters from a team that reached the final eight in the NCAA tournament after winning the Pac-10 tournament. They started 8-1 this season, but losses to Nebraska and upstart Oakland (Mich.) at home in December started a downturn.

The Ducks were defeated by No. 21 Washington State in the quarterfinals of the Pacific-10 Tournament. Oregon had been the only team that advanced to the semifinals in every Pac-10 tournament since the event resumed in 2002.

The Ducks won their final three games of the regular season to raise their conference record to 9-9, but no Pac-10 team had been invited to the NCAA tournament before with less than 10 league wins.

Mississippi State (22-10) was upset 64-60 by Georgia in the semifinals of the SEC tournament in Atlanta. The game was played before an estimated crowd of 1,000 at Georgia Tech's Alexander Memorial Coliseum, where the final two days of the tournament were moved after a tornado ripped through the Georgia Dome during the quarterfinals. 

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)