Ball State Cardinals Football
The Ball State Cardinals football team is a college football program representing Ball State University in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football.
Mike Neu is the head coach. Ball State plays its home games at Scheumann Stadium on the campus of Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. The Cardinals compete in the Mid-American Conference as a member of the West Division.
| Ball State Cardinals | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
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| First season | 1924 | ||
| Athletic director | Jeff Mitchell | ||
| Head coach | Mike Neu 7th season, 37–56 (.398) | ||
| Stadium | Scheumann Stadium (capacity: 22,500) | ||
| Year built | 1967 | ||
| Field surface | SprinTurf | ||
| Location | Muncie, Indiana | ||
| NCAA division | Division I FBS | ||
| Conference | Mid-American Conference | ||
| Division | West | ||
| Past conferences | IIC (1934–1947) ICC (1951–1967) | ||
| All-time record | 476–455–32 (.511) | ||
| Bowl record | 1–8 (.111) | ||
| Conference titles | 11 | ||
| Division titles | 4 | ||
| Rivalries | Indiana State (rivalry) Northern Illinois (rivalry) Miami (rivalry) | ||
| Current uniform | |||
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| Colors | Cardinal and white | ||
| Fight song | Ball State Fight Song | ||
| Mascot | Charlie Cardinal | ||
| Marching band | The Pride of Mid-America Marching Band | ||
| Website | BallStateSports.com | ||
The Cardinals have a 476–455–32 record, which ranks below the top 50 most victories among NCAA FBS programs. Ball State was originally classified as a teacher's college, participating in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) from 1937 until 1956. In 1957, they were classified as a Small College school until 1972. Ball State received Division II classification in 1973, before becoming a Division I-AA program in 1975 and a Division I-A (now FBS) program in 1981, dropping to Division I-AA for a single season (1982) before returning to Division I-A.
Conference affiliations
Ball State has been an independent and affiliated with multiple conferences.
- Independent (1924–1949)
- Indiana Collegiate Conference (1950–1969)
- Conference of Midwestern Universities (1970–1971)
- Mid-American Conference (1973–present)
Championships
Conference championships
| Year | Conference | Coach | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1942 | Indiana Intercollegiate Conference | John Magnabosco | 6–2 |
| 1964 | Heartland Collegiate Conference | Ray Louthen | 5–3 |
| 1965 | Heartland Collegiate Conference | Ray Louthen | 9–0–1 |
| 1966 | Heartland Collegiate Conference | Ray Louthen | 7–1–1 |
| 1967 | Heartland Collegiate Conference | Ray Louthen | 7–3 |
| 1976 | Mid-American Conference | Dave McClain | 8–3 |
| 1978 | Mid-American Conference | Dwight Wallace | 10–1 |
| 1989 | Mid-American Conference | Paul Schudel | 7–3–2 |
| 1993 | Mid-American Conference | Paul Schudel | 8–3–1 |
| 1996 | Mid-American Conference | Bill Lynch | 8–4 |
| 2020 | Mid-American Conference | Mike Neu | 6–1 |
Division championships
| Year | Division | Coach | Opponent | CG result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | MAC West | Bill Lynch | N/A lost tiebreaker to Toledo | |
| 2007 | MAC West | Brady Hoke | N/A lost tiebreaker to Central Michigan | |
| 2008 | MAC West | Brady Hoke | Buffalo | L 24–42 |
| 2020 | MAC West | Mike Neu | Buffalo | W 38–28 |
Bowl games
Ball State has appeared in nine NCAA Division I postseason bowl games, in which they have compiled a 1–8 record. Within all FBS teams, Ball State was one of eight that had never won a sanctioned bowl game, until the 2020 Arizona Bowl.
| Season | Date | Bowl | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | December 9, 1989 | California Bowl | Fresno State | L 6–27 |
| 1993 | December 17, 1993 | Las Vegas Bowl | Utah State | L 33–42 |
| 1996 | December 18, 1996 | Las Vegas Bowl | Nevada | L 15–18 |
| 2007 | January 5, 2008 | International Bowl | Rutgers | L 30–52 |
| 2008 | January 6, 2009 | GMAC Bowl | Tulsa | L 13–45 |
| 2012 | December 21, 2012 | Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl | UCF | L 17–38 |
| 2013 | January 5, 2014 | GoDaddy Bowl | Arkansas State | L 20–23 |
| 2020 | December 31, 2020 | Arizona Bowl | San Jose State | W 34–13 |
| 2021 | December 25, 2021 | Camellia Bowl | Georgia State | L 20–51 |
Ball State also appeared in two NCAA College Division postseason bowl games, where they compiled a record of 0–1–1.
| Season | Date | Bowl | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 | December 11, 1965 | Grantland Rice Bowl | Tennessee State | T 14–14 |
| 1967 | December 9, 1967 | Grantland Rice Bowl | Eastern Kentucky | L 13–27 |
Head coaches
The Ball State Cardinals have had 17 head coaches throughout the program's history. With 68 victories, John Magnabosco has the most victories in the program's history, followed by Paul Schudel (60 wins) and Dave McClain (46).
Rivalries
Indiana State
Ball State leads the series with Indiana State 39–24–1 with the last game played in 2023.
Miami (OH)
Ball State and Miami were granted rivalry status by the MAC in 2017. The cross-division foes play each year for the Red Bird Rivalry trophy. BSU has been known as the Cardinals since 1927, while Miami adopted the RedHawks moniker in 1997. The series dates back to 1931 but really heated up in the 1970s when BSU joined the MAC.
Northern Illinois
The Cardinals have played Northern Illinois six times in football since the launch of the Bronze Stalk Trophy. The trophy depicts several cornstalks in tribute to the prevalence of maize around the respective home states of the rivals. Northern Illinois holds a 24–21–2 lead in the series through the 2019 season.
Cardinals in professional football
Ball State has produced a total of 29 NFL draft selections. The following "Active" and "All-Star" lists account for past and present Ball State University football players that have participated in the National Football League, Canadian Football League, Arena Football League, XFL, United States Football League, European Football League, Austrian Football League, German Football League and IFL.
Active
As of February 2023, there are a total of thirteen Cardinals listed on team rosters in the NFL, CFL, AFL, XFL, IFL, and USFL.
- Christian Albright - DL - Saskatchewan Roughriders
- Nate Davis - QB - Duke City Gladiators
- Walter Fletcher - RB - Montreal Alouettes
- Justin Hall - WR - Houston Gamblers
- Caleb Huntley - RB - Atlanta Falcons
- Hassan Littles - WR - Green Bay Blizzard
- Jonathan Newsome - DE - Birmingham Stallions
- Antonio Phillips - CB - Vegas Vipers
- Danny Pinter - OL - Indianapolis Colts
- Drew Plitt - QB - Arlington Renegades
- Tuni Ropati - DL - Bay Area Panthers
- Willie Snead IV - WR - San Francisco 49ers
- Jaylin Thomas - LB - Seattle Sea Dragons
All-stars
Among the numerous Cardinals who have participated in the NFL, CFL, and AFL, three have received all-star recognition by their respective leagues.
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Future non-conference opponents
Announced schedules as of December 27, 2019.
| 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 | 2030 | 2031 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| at Kentucky | Army | at Purdue | at Ohio State | at Iowa | at Western Kentucky | at Liberty | Liberty |
| at Georgia | Missouri State | at Auburn | at Indiana | Western Kentucky | |||
| Indiana State | at Miami (FL) | New Hampshire | Stony Brook | Kentucky | |||
| Georgia Southern | at James Madison | at UConn | at Liberty |
References
- Ball State Historical Data, College Football Data Warehouse.
- Michael Maccambridge (ed.), ESPN College Football Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Game, ESPN, 2005, ISBN 1-4013-3703-1.
External links
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