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. 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. The team is currently led by head coach Mike Uremovich, who was hired on December 4, 2024.^[2]

Ball State Cardinals football
2025 Ball State Cardinals football team
First season	1924; 101 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[1]
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.^[3] 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.^[4]

Conference affiliations

Ball State has been an independent and affiliated with multiple conferences.^[5]

• 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	Indiana Collegiate Conference	Ray Louthen	5–3
1965	Indiana Collegiate Conference	Ray Louthen	9–0–1
1966	Indiana Collegiate Conference	Ray Louthen	7–1–1
1967	Indiana 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.^[6] Within all FBS teams, Ball State was one of eight that had never won a sanctioned bowl game, until the 2020 Arizona Bowl.^[7]

Ball State v Army game in 2014

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

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).^[8]

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.^[9][10]

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. ^[11]

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.^[12] Northern Illinois holds a 24–21–2 lead in the series through the 2019 season.^[13]

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.^[14] 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,^[15] CFL,^[16] AFL,^[17] 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.

Blaine Bishop - S NFL Pro Bowl (1995, 1996, 1997, 2000)[18] NFL All-Pro (1995, 1996, 2000)[18]

Timmy Brown - RB NFL Pro Bowl (1962, 1963, 1965)[19] NFL All-Pro (1963, 1965, 1966)[19]

Kenny Stucker - K AFL All-Arena (1996 & 1998)[20]

Future non-conference opponents

Announced schedules as of August 12, 2025.^[21]

2025	2026	2027	2028	2029	2030	2031	2032	2033	2034
at Purdue	at Ohio State	at Iowa	at Penn State	at Indiana	at Liberty	Liberty	Wyoming	at Middle Tennessee	Middle Tennessee
at Auburn	Stony Brook	Western Kentucky	Indiana State
New Hampshire	at Liberty	UT Martin	at Western Kentucky
at UConn	at Northwestern	at Kentucky