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
2023 Ball State Cardinals football team
First season1924
Athletic directorJeff Mitchell
Head coachMike Neu
7th season, 33–45 (.423)
StadiumScheumann Stadium
(capacity: 22,500)
Year built1967
Field surfaceSprinTurf
LocationMuncie, Indiana
NCAA divisionDivision I FBS
ConferenceMid-American Conference
DivisionWest
Past conferencesIIC (1934–1947)
ICC (1951–1967)
All-time record432–390–32 (.525)
Bowl record1–8 (.111)
Conference titles11
Division titles4
RivalriesIndiana State (rivalry)
Northern Illinois (rivalry)
Miami (rivalry)
Current uniform
ColorsCardinal and white[1]
   
Fight songBall State Fight Song
MascotCharlie Cardinal
Marching bandThe Pride of Mid-America Marching Band
WebsiteBallStateSports.com

The Cardinals have a 421–381–32 record, which ranks below the top 50 most victories among NCAA FBS programs.[2] 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.[3]

Conference affiliations

Ball State has been an independent and affiliated with multiple conferences.[4]

Championships

Conference championships
Year Conference Coach Record
1942Indiana Intercollegiate ConferenceJohn Magnabosco6–2
1964Heartland Collegiate ConferenceRay Louthen5–3
1965Heartland Collegiate ConferenceRay Louthen9–0–1
1966Heartland Collegiate ConferenceRay Louthen7–1–1
1967Heartland Collegiate ConferenceRay Louthen7–3
1976Mid-American ConferenceDave McClain8–3
1978Mid-American ConferenceDwight Wallace10–1
1989Mid-American ConferencePaul Schudel7–3–2
1993Mid-American ConferencePaul Schudel8–3–1
1996Mid-American ConferenceBill Lynch8–4
2020Mid-American ConferenceMike Neu6–1

Division championships
Year Division Coach Opponent CG result
2001MAC WestBill LynchN/A lost tiebreaker to Toledo
2007MAC WestBrady HokeN/A lost tiebreaker to Central Michigan
2008MAC WestBrady HokeBuffaloL 24–42
2020MAC WestMike NeuBuffaloW 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.[5] Within all FBS teams, Ball State was one of eight that had never won a sanctioned bowl game, until the 2020 Arizona Bowl.[6]

Season Date Bowl Opponent Result
1989December 9, 1989California BowlFresno StateL 6–27
1993December 17, 1993Las Vegas BowlUtah StateL 33–42
1996December 18, 1996Las Vegas BowlNevadaL 15–18
2007January 5, 2008International BowlRutgersL 30–52
2008January 6, 2009GMAC BowlTulsaL 13–45
2012December 21, 2012Beef 'O' Brady's BowlUCFL 17–38
2013January 5, 2014GoDaddy BowlArkansas StateL 20–23
2020December 31, 2020Arizona BowlSan Jose StateW 34–13
2021December 25, 2021Camellia BowlGeorgia StateL 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
1965December 11, 1965Grantland Rice BowlTennessee StateT 14–14
1967December 9, 1967Grantland Rice BowlEastern KentuckyL 13–27

Head coaches
Main article: List of Ball State Cardinals head football 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).[7]

Rivalries

Indiana State
Main article: Blue Key Victory Bell

Ball State leads the series with Indiana State 39–24–1 with the last game played in 2023.[8][9]

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. [10]

Northern Illinois
Main article: Bronze Stalk Trophy

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.[11] Northern Illinois holds a 24–21–2 lead in the series through the 2019 season.[12]

Cardinals in professional football
See also: List of Ball State Cardinals in the NFL Draft
Quarterback Nate Davis

Ball State has produced a total of 29 NFL draft selections.[13] 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,[14] CFL,[15] AFL,[16] XFL, IFL, and USFL.

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.

Future non-conference opponents

Announced schedules as of December 27, 2019.[20]

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
  1. "Brand Colors - Ball State University". Retrieved May 23, 2017.
  2. "2012 Football Bowl Subdivision Records - All-Time Team Won-Loss Records" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
  3. DeLassus, David. "Ball State Historical Data". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on May 15, 2013. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
  4. "Reference at www.arcadiapublishing.com".
  5. "Ball State Cardinals Bowls". College Football at Sports-Reference.com.
  6. "Ball State vs. San José State - Game Summary - December 31, 2020 - ESPN".
  7. "Ball State Football Year-by-year results" (PDF). www.ballstatesports.com. Ball State University Athletic Department. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
  8. "15therecordbook (PDF)" (PDF). Indiana State University Athletics.
  9. Tribune-Star, Todd Golden. "ISU football defeats Ball State 27-20 to win Victory Bell". Terre Haute Tribune-Star.
  10. "Ball State hosts Miami for Red Bird Rivalry, Homecoming".
  11. Doug Zaleski (November 23, 2007). "BSU-Northern Illinois winner will collect Bronze Stalk trophy". www.thestarpress.com. Gannett. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
  12. "Winsipedia - Ball State Cardinals vs. Northern Illinois Huskies football series history". Winsipedia. Retrieved 2019-01-15.
  13. "Ball St. Drafted Players/Alumni". www.pro-football-reference.com. USA Today Sports Digital Properties. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
  14. "NFL Players by College - B". www.espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  15. "Active Players". CFL.ca. Canadian Football League. Archived from the original on August 26, 2013. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  16. "AFL Players". www.arenafan.com. ArenaFan. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  17. "Blaine Bishop NFL Football Statistics". www.Pro-Football-Reference.com. USA Today Sports Digital Properties. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
  18. "Timmy Brown NFL Football Statistics". www.Pro-Football-Reference.com. USA Today Sports Digital Properties. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
  19. "Kenny Stucker". www.arenafan.com. ArenaFan. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
  20. "Ball State Cardinals Football Future Schedules". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved December 27, 2019.
  • 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.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ball State Cardinals football.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.