This story will be updated
Finally.
Missouri State football's 31-year postseason drought is over.
The Bears were among the 16 teams announced Sunday morning during the FCS Playoff Selection Show and they will participate in the playoffs for the first time since Jesse Branch led then-Southwest Missouri State to the postseason in 1990.
Missouri State (5-4, 5-1) will play at North Dakota on Saturday at 3 p.m. The winner will play the next week against either James Madison or Virginia Military.
The miraculous turnaround comes in the first season under head coach Bobby Petrino — who, coincidentally, coached against and defeated the Bears at Plaster Stadium the last time MSU was in the playoffs when he served as the Idaho offensive coordinator.