With the TV on, Missouri State head coach Bobby Petrino sat with his staff on Sunday morning and watched anxiously.
He sat in the football office on Missouri State's campus about 500 feet from Plaster Stadium. It was there where he led Idaho's offense to a win over the Bears in the FCS Playoffs 31 years before.
Missouri State hadn't made it back since.
ESPNU was on the TV as the coaching staff — and Missouri State fans elsewhere — held its breath. Whether the Bears were going to make the playoffs for the first time since 1990 or not was about to be announced.