The Ducks (23-7 overall, 14-4 Pac-10) were seeded No. 6 in the West Region of the NCAA Tournament and will play 11th-seeded Alabama-Birmingham (19-12 overall) Friday night in the first round at McArthur Court.

The other game that night will be third-seeded Mississippi State vs. 14th-seeded St. Peter's.

If Oregon wins its first two games and makes the Sweet Sixteen, the Ducks will advance to the West Regional in Portland.

The Ducks had not hosted an NCAA Tournament game since 1994, and normally only the top-four seeds among the 64-team field gets to host. But Mississippi State had a scheduling conflict and there were not enough hotel rooms in Starkville, Miss., to accommodate players, fans and media.

MSU is hosting the Southern Regional Orientation Workshop, a training seminar for university administrators.

Oregon won its second straight Pac-10 title, and first outright, by defeating Oregon State 60-53 on Friday night.

Oregon made the tournament for the seventh straight year under coach Jody Runge, but the Ducks had not made it out of the second round in all of those appearances. Runge was not happy with the Ducks' seeding the past two seasons, which had them being sent to Ames, Iowa.