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Ball State Cardinals football
2024 Ball State Cardinals football team
First season	1924; 100 years ago
Athletic director	Jeff Mitchell
Head coach	Mike Uremovich 1st season, 0–0 (–)
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	479–461–32 (.509)
Bowl record	1–8 (.111)
Conference titles	11
Division titles	4
Rivalries	Indiana State (rivalry) Northern Illinois (rivalry) Miami (rivalry)
Current uniform
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 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. 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. Following the firing of Mike Neu on November 16, 2024, Colin Johnson is serving as interim head coach.

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

Division championships

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.

Ball State also appeared in two NCAA College Division postseason bowl games, where they compiled a record of 0–1–1.

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
• Damon Kaylor - Firefighter - Huntington North Vikings

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 August 11, 2024.

References

1. "Brand Colors - Ball State University". Retrieved May 23, 2017.
2. Thamel, Pete (November 16, 2024). "Ball State fires Mike Neu amid fourth straight losing season". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 16, 2024.
3. "2022 NCAA FBS Records" (PDF).
4. DeLassus, David. "Ball State Historical Data". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on May 15, 2013. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
5. "Reference at www.arcadiapublishing.com".
6. "Ball State Cardinals Bowls". College Football at Sports-Reference.com.
7. "Ball State vs. San José State - Game Summary - December 31, 2020 - ESPN".
8. "Ball State Football Year-by-year results" (PDF). www.ballstatesports.com. Ball State University Athletic Department. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
9. "15therecordbook (PDF)" (PDF). Indiana State University Athletics.
10. Tribune-Star, Todd Golden. "ISU football defeats Ball State 27-20 to win Victory Bell". Terre Haute Tribune-Star.
11. "Ball State hosts Miami for Red Bird Rivalry, Homecoming".
12. Doug Zaleski (November 23, 2007). "BSU-Northern Illinois winner will collect Bronze Stalk trophy". www.thestarpress.com. Gannett. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
13. "Winsipedia - Ball State Cardinals vs. Northern Illinois Huskies football series history". Winsipedia. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
14. "Ball St. Drafted Players/Alumni". www.pro-football-reference.com. USA Today Sports Digital Properties. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
15. "NFL Players by College - B". www.espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
16. "Active Players". CFL.ca. Canadian Football League. Archived from the original on August 26, 2013. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
17. "AFL Players". www.arenafan.com. ArenaFan. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
18. ^ "Blaine Bishop NFL Football Statistics". www.Pro-Football-Reference.com. USA Today Sports Digital Properties. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
19. ^ "Timmy Brown NFL Football Statistics". www.Pro-Football-Reference.com. USA Today Sports Digital Properties. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
20. "Kenny Stucker". www.arenafan.com. ArenaFan. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
21. "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.

External links

• Official website

v t e Ball State University
Located in: Muncie, Indiana
Academics	Colleges Estopinal College of Architecture and Planning Miller College of Business College of Communication, Information, and Media Teachers College Other Burris Laboratory School Center for Business and Economic Research Center for Energy Research/Education/Service Center for Middletown Studies Indiana Academy for Science, Mathematics, and Humanities
Athletics	Teams Baseball Men's basketball Women's basketball Football Venues Ball Diamond Irving Gymnasium Scheumann Stadium Worthen Arena Lore Bronze Stalk Trophy Charlie Cardinal Indiana State rivalry Marching Band
Campus	History Beneficence Bracken House Bracken Library Christy Woods Emens Auditorium Frog Baby LaFollette Complex Observatory Owsley Museum of Art Shafer Tower Wheeler-Thanhauser Orchid Collection and Species Bank
Student life	WBST WBSU-TV WCRD WIPB
People	Alumni Ball brothers Presidents
Founded: 1918 Students: 21,597 Endowment: $212.8 million Category

• Ball State Cardinals football
• American football teams established in 1924
• 1924 establishments in Indiana