Ball State Cardinals
Mid-AmericanMuncie, INScheumann Stadium
2026: 2–5 (1–2 Mid-American). Last: won at Bowling Green 32–31. Next: Sacramento State, Saturday, Oct 24, 3:30 p.m. ET.
- L 3–56at No. 1 Ohio State
- W 41–17Stony Brook
- L 15–51at Liberty
- L 13–26at Kent State
- L 24–39Toledo
- L 14–45at Northwestern
- W 32–31at Bowling Green
- Oct 24Sacramento State
- Nov 4at Massachusetts
- Nov 11Buffalo
- Nov 17at Ohio
- Nov 28Central Michigan
- Outfitted by Nike
Ball State has played football since 1924 and is officially 483–473–32; 614 of its 988 games are in our file. Their best finish in the final AP poll is No. 23, in 2020. They have won six Mid-American Conference titles (the last in 2020), plus four Indiana Collegiate Conference titles, one Indiana Intercollegiate Conference title, counting shared titles. Since 1968, the NFL Draft has taken 18 players from here in its first seven rounds, 0 of them in the first round. Paul Schudel (1985–1994) won more games here than any other coach: 60. The most-played rival is Western Michigan: 52 meetings, Western Michigan leads 30–22. This season, under Mike Uremovich, they’re 2–5.
Résumé
- All-time record
- 483–473–32 official; 287–321–6 on file; how we count
- Postseason
- 1–8 matches the official bowl record
- AP No. 1 finishes
- 0
- Weeks at No. 1
- 0 of 9 ranked
- Elo now
- 1338 130th of 138 FBS
- Computer rankings
- Massey No. 130 · Composite No. 130 in FBS, Oct 17; up 4 since Oct 11. From Massey Ratings
- Conference titles
- 11 last in 2020
- Seasons
- 61 since 1932, 614 games
Identity
- Fight song
- Ball State Fight Song
- Mascot
- Charlie Cardinal
- Student section
- Section T
- Apparel
- Nike
- Band
- The Pride of Mid-America Marching Band since 1926, 200 members
2026 season 2–5
RosterFull 2026 season| Date | Opponent | Result | Elo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 5 | at 1Ohio State | L 3–56 | 9% |
| Sep 12 | vs Stony Brook | W 41–17 | 67% |
| Sep 19 | at Liberty | L 15–51 | 35% |
| Sep 26 | at Kent State | L 13–26 | 41% |
| Oct 3 | vs Toledo | L 24–39 | 29% |
| Oct 10 | at Northwestern | L 14–45 | 15% |
| Oct 17 | at Bowling Green | W 32–31 | 32% |
| Oct 24 | vs Sacramento State | Preview | 70% |
| Nov 4 | at Massachusetts | Preview | 42% |
| Nov 11 | vs Buffalo | Preview | 39% |
| Nov 17 | at Ohio | Preview | 15% |
| Nov 28 | vs Central Michigan | Preview | 44% |
Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.
This season, game by game
Future schedule
2027–34- 20274 games: 2 home, 2 away, non-conference only
- 20283 games: 1 home, 2 away, non-conference only
- 20291 game: 1 away, non-conference only
- at Indiana
- 20301 game: 1 away, non-conference only
- at Liberty
- 20311 game: 1 home, non-conference only
- 20332 games: 1 home, 1 away, non-conference only
- 20341 game: 1 home, non-conference only
Ball State’s announced games beyond the seasons on our schedule, as its Wikipedia article lists them (announced schedules as of September 3, 2025). Schedules change; a season shows only the games named so far, and many articles list non-conference games only. Future schedules: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
On the 2026 team
- Keldric Luster1,066 passing yards, 7 TD (leads Ball State in passing yards)
- T.J. Horton393 rushing yards, 7 TD (leads Ball State in rushing yards)
- Kaleb Stewart35 tackles, 1.5 sacks
- Stu Smith36 tackles (leads Ball State in tackles)
- Gavin Forsha32 tackles, 1 sack
- Donovan Hamilton22 catches, 273 yards, 1 TD (leads Ball State in receiving yards)
Program greats See all
Heisman finalists, College Football Hall of Famers, consensus All-Americans, national award winners and first-round picks, for what they did at Ball State.
Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.
Around the program
- Apparel
- Nike · Official source
- Ball State Team Store; read 2026-10-10
- Mascot
- Charlie Cardinal · Official source
- Ball State University Athletics; read 2026-10-10
- Student section
- Section T · Official source
- Ball State University Athletics; read 2026-10-10
- Athletic director
- Jeff Mitchell · Official source
- Ball State University Athletics; read 2026-10-10
- Defensive coordinator
- Jeff Knowles · Official source
- Ball State University Athletics; read 2026-10-10
Found by several AI researchers searching the web, then kept only where the page loads and says so in words naming the program; every quote is checked again each time the data is rebuilt. Official source: the school’s own page. All of them.
The apparel deal
Nike, from September 2017. Five years. The 2017 agreement ran through August 2022. The current term hasn't been confirmed here.
- Ball State Athletics, May 4, 2017: Five years from September 2017 through August 2022, all 19 varsity teams
Apparel deals: Field Drip. Terms as the outlets reported them; checked Oct 3, 2026.
Program strength since 1932
Best seasons everMore coverage
- Luster throws 2-point conversion in OT to give Ball State a wild 32-31 win over Bowling Green, winnipegfreepress.com,
- Ball State vs. Bowling Green Oct. 17: TV, Stream, iheart.com,
Found through the GDELT Project, which indexes news sites worldwide. Each link opens the story on the outlet’s own site; each picture is that outlet’s own preview of its story, shown from its site and credited to it.
Head coaches
| Coach | Years | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Mike Uremovich | 2025–2026 | 6–13 |
| Colin Johnson | 2024 | 0–2 |
 Mike Neu | 2016–2024 | 40–63 |
 Pete Lembo | 2011–2015 | 33–29 |
 Stan Parrish | 2008–2010 | 6–19 |
 Brady Hoke | 2003–2008 | 34–38 |
 Bill Lynch | 1995–2002 | 37–53 |
| Paul Schudel | 1985–1994 | 60–48–4 |
| Dwight Wallace | 1978–1984 | 40–37 |
| Dave McClain | 1973–1977 | 28–10–1 |
Most-played series
All rivalries- Western Michigan
22–30 in 52
- 2016 L 20–52
- 2017 L 3–55
- 2018 W 42–41
- 2019 L 31–35
- 2020 W 30–27
- 2021 W 45–20
- 2022 L 30–37
- 2023 L 24–42
- 2024 L 42–45
- 2025 L 0–42
Lost the last four.
- Toledo
21–29–1 in 51
- 2016 L 19–37
- 2017 L 17–58
- 2018 L 13–45
- 2019 W 52–14
- 2020 W 27–24
- 2021 L 12–22
- 2022 L 21–28
- 2023 L 6–13
- 2025 L 9–38
- 2026 L 24–39
Lost the last five.
- Eastern Michigan
32–18 in 50
- 2015 W 28–17
- 2016 L 41–48
- 2017 L 14–56
- 2018 L 20–42
- 2019 W 29–23
- 2020 W 38–31
- 2021 W 38–31
- 2022 L 16–20
- 2023 L 10–24
- 2025 L 9–24
Lost the last three.
| Opponent | Games | BALL record |
|---|---|---|
| Western Michigan | 52 | 22–30 |
| Toledo | 51 | 21–29–1 |
| Eastern Michigan | 50 | 32–18 |
| Northern Illinois | 49 | 24–24–1 |
| Central Michigan | 49 | 26–22–1 |
| Miami (OH) | 37 | 13–24 |
| Kent State | 34 | 25–9 |
| Bowling Green | 32 | 10–21–1 |
Rivals the program names: Indiana State, Northern Illinois.
The trophy it holds: Blue Key Victory Bell (Indiana State, since 2023). Who holds each comes from the games on file; the trophies from Wikipedia.
Every opponent (100)
Every program Ball State has played, A to Z, with Ball State’s record against it. Each links to the series, game by game.
- Akron 11–7
- App State 2–0
- Arkansas State 0–1
- Army 4–3
- Auburn 0–4
- Boston College 0–3
- Bowling Green 10–21–1
- Buffalo 11–3
- Butler 0–2
- Cal Poly-Pomona 1–0
- Central Connecticut 1–0
- Central Michigan 26–22–1
- Cincinnati 0–1
- Clemson 0–3
- Colgate 1–0
- Dayton 2–1
- Eastern Kentucky 1–0
- Eastern Michigan 32–18
- Florida 0–1
- Florida Atlantic 1–1
- Fordham 1–0
- Fresno State 0–1
- Georgia 0–1
- Georgia Southern 0–2
- Georgia State 1–2
- Illinois 0–2
- Illinois State 9–1
- Indiana 3–7
- Indiana State 14–7
- Iowa 0–3
- Iowa State 0–1
- James Madison 1–1
- Kansas 0–2
- Kansas State 0–1
- Kent State 25–9
- Kentucky 0–2
- Liberty 0–2
- Louisiana Tech 1–1
- Marshall 0–3
- Massachusetts 2–2
- McNeese 1–1
- Miami 0–1
- Miami (OH) 13–24
- Michigan 0–1
- Minnesota 0–2
- Missouri 0–3
- Missouri State 1–0
- Murray State 1–0
- Navy 3–0
- NC State 0–1
- Nebraska 0–1
- Nevada 0–1
- New Hampshire 1–1
- North Dakota State 0–1
- North Texas 0–2
- Northeastern 1–0
- Northern Illinois 24–24–1
- Northern Iowa 0–1
- Northwestern 0–2
- Notre Dame 0–1
- Ohio 16–13
- Ohio State 0–1
- Oklahoma 0–1
- Penn State 0–1
- Pittsburgh 0–1
- Purdue 0–9
- Rhode Island 1–0
- Richmond 2–0
- Rutgers 0–1–1
- San José State 1–0
- SE Louisiana 1–0
- South Carolina 0–1
- South Florida 1–1
- Southeast Missouri State 1–0
- Southern Illinois 0–1–1
- Stony Brook 1–0
- Syracuse 0–1
- TCU 0–1
- Temple 0–2
- Tennessee 0–1
- Tennessee Tech 1–0
- Texas A&M 0–1
- Toledo 21–29–1
- Tulsa 0–1
- UAB 1–0
- UCF 2–2
- UConn 4–1
- Utah State 0–1
- Vanderbilt 0–1
- Villanova 0–1
- Virginia 1–0
- VMI 1–0
- Washington State 0–1
- West Virginia 0–2
- Western Illinois 2–1
- Western Kentucky 2–2
- Western Michigan 22–30
- Wichita State 1–1
- Wisconsin 0–3
- Wyoming 0–1
Conference titles
11, counting shared titles- Indiana Collegiate Conference 4
- 1964 (shared), 1965, 1966, 1967
- Indiana Intercollegiate Conference 1
- 1942
As the program counts them in its Wikipedia article, shared titles included, and listed under each conference’s current name (a Western Conference title of the 1900s counts as a Big Ten title); season pages use the name the conference had that year. A title the article files under a conference the team wasn’t in that season is listed under the one it was. Division titles include years the team tied for its division.
Conferences
- Indiana Intercollegiate Conference 1924–1942 and 1944–1949
- Indiana Collegiate Conference 1950–1969
- Midwestern Universities Conference 1970–1971
- Independent 1972
- Mid-American Conference since 1973
Ball State’s football conferences by season, from CollegeFootballData.com’s memberships (renamed conferences keep the name of the time).
Consensus All-Americans 2
| 1996 | Brad Maynard P |
| 1995 | Brad Maynard P |
Led the nation 5
| 2008 | MiQuale Lewis rushing touchdowns (22 TD) |
| 2006 | Terry Moss yards per catch (25.4) |
| 2004 | Dante Ridgeway receptions (105 catches) |
| 1979 | Stevie Nelson kickoff return average (31.4) |
| 1977 | Dave Wilson passer rating (164.2) |
The NCAA’s official national leaders since 1937, from Wikipedia’s yearly leader lists.
In the NFL Draft
By college- Drafted, rounds 1–7
- 18 since 1968
- First-round picks
- 0
Who came and went in the 2026 transfer portal, and every portal year.
The school
Ball State University- Enrollment
- 21,089 15,189 undergraduates, fall 2024
- Where
- Muncie, Indiana
- Public or private
- Public Research 2
- Founded
- 1918
- Graduates’ median earnings
- $51,833 10 years after starting
Enrollment, place and Carnegie research tier from the National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS, public domain). Earnings from the US Department of Education’s College Scorecard (CC BY 4.0): the median for students who received federal aid and were working, not in school. Founding year from Wikidata. Every school’s in the data.
Official accounts
- Football
- X @ballstatefbInstagram @ballstatefbFacebook BallStateFootball
- Athletics department
- X @BallStateSportsInstagram @ballstatesportsFacebook ballstatesports
Official accounts: the schools’ athletics websites: the ones ballstatesports.com lists for its football program and athletics department, as of Oct 12, 2026.
Season by season
National champions| Season | Record | Conf. | AP pre | AP final | Coach | Elo | SP+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2–5 | 1–2 | Mike Uremovich | 1338 | -25.2 | ||
| 2025 | 4–8 | 3–5 | Mike Uremovich | 1325 | -23.0 | ||
| 2024 | 3–9 | 2–6 | Mike Neu, Colin Johnson | 1343 | -19.8 | ||
| 2023 | 4–8 | 3–5 | Mike Neu | 1400 | -14.9 | ||
| 2022 | 5–7 | 3–5 | Mike Neu | 1431 | -14.9 | ||
| 2021 | 6–7 | 4–4 | Mike Neu | 1493 | -11.2 | ||
| 2020 | 7–1 | 5–1 | 23 | Mike Neu | 1602 | -6.7 | |
| 2019 | 5–7 | 4–4 | Mike Neu | 1423 | -4.5 | ||
| 2018 | 4–8 | 3–5 | Mike Neu | 1295 | -18.9 | ||
| 2017 | 2–10 | 0–8 | Mike Neu | 1246 | -19.7 | ||
| 2016 | 4–8 | 1–7 | Mike Neu | 1362 | -7.0 | ||
| 2015 | 3–9 | 2–6 | Pete Lembo | 1346 | -15.5 | ||
| 2014 | 5–7 | 4–4 | Pete Lembo | 1476 | -6.6 | ||
| 2013 | 10–3 | 7–1 | Pete Lembo | 1600 | 7.5 | ||
| 2012 | 9–4 | 6–2 | Pete Lembo | 1549 | -2.6 | ||
| 2011 | 6–6 | 4–4 | Pete Lembo | 1415 | -13.6 | ||
| 2010 | 4–8 | 3–5 | Stan Parrish | 1359 | -15.6 | ||
| 2009 | 2–10 | 2–6 | Stan Parrish | 1376 | -17.3 | ||
| 2008 | 12–2 | 8–0 | Brady Hoke, Stan Parrish | 1595 | 14.3 | ||
| 2007 | 7–6 | 5–2 | Brady Hoke | 1475 | -4.6 | ||
| 2006 | 5–7 | 5–3 | Brady Hoke | 1437 | -7.5 | ||
| 2005 | 4–7 | 4–4 | Brady Hoke | 1382 | -18.5 | ||
| 2004 | 2–9 | 2–6 | Brady Hoke | 1324 | -18.7 | ||
| 2003 | 4–8 | 3–5 | Brady Hoke | 1369 | -13.0 | ||
| 2002 | 6–6 | 4–4 | Bill Lynch | 1434 | -10.6 |
Every season back to 1932 (36 more)
| Season | Record | Conf. | AP pre | AP final | Coach | Elo | SP+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 5–6 | 4–3 | Bill Lynch | 1394 | -12.0 | ||
| 2000 | 5–6 | 4–3 | Bill Lynch | 1340 | -6.7 | ||
| 1999 | 0–11 | 0–8 | Bill Lynch | 1197 | -29.0 | ||
| 1998 | 1–10 | 1–7 | Bill Lynch | 1312 | -22.2 | ||
| 1997 | 5–6 | 4–4 | Bill Lynch | 1476 | -6.8 | ||
| 1996 | 8–4 | 7–1 | Bill Lynch | 1570 | 3.1 | ||
| 1995 | 7–4 | 6–2 | Bill Lynch | 1498 | -1.7 | ||
| 1994 | 5–5–1 | 5–3–1 | Paul Schudel | 1458 | -7.6 | ||
| 1993 | 8–3–1 | 7–0–1 | Paul Schudel | 1515 | -2.4 | ||
| 1992 | 5–6 | 5–4 | Paul Schudel | 1453 | -7.4 | ||
| 1991 | 6–5 | 4–4 | Paul Schudel | 1503 | -4.7 | ||
| 1990 | 7–4 | 5–3 | Paul Schudel | 1524 | -5.3 | ||
| 1989 | 7–3–2 | 6–1–1 | Paul Schudel | 1539 | -2.7 | ||
| 1988 | 8–3 | 5–3 | Paul Schudel | 1537 | 4.8 | ||
| 1987 | 4–7 | 3–5 | Paul Schudel | 1404 | -8.6 | ||
| 1986 | 6–5 | 4–4 | Paul Schudel | 1426 | -11.8 | ||
| 1985 | 4–7 | 3–6 | Paul Schudel | 1342 | -12.4 | ||
| 1984 | 3–8 | 3–5 | Dwight Wallace | 1323 | -15.3 | ||
| 1983 | 6–5 | 4–4 | Dwight Wallace | 1410 | -9.8 | ||
| 1982 | 5–6 | 4–4 | Dwight Wallace | 1417 | -10.8 | ||
| 1981 | 4–7 | 2–6 | Dwight Wallace | 1402 | -12.5 | ||
| 1980 | 6–5 | 5–4 | Dwight Wallace | 1528 | 6.2 | ||
| 1979 | 6–5 | 4–4 | Dwight Wallace | 1555 | 4.0 | ||
| 1978 | 10–1 | 8–0 | Dwight Wallace | 1679 | 15.3 | ||
| 1977 | 9–2 | 5–1 | Dave McClain | 1606 | 10.7 | ||
| 1976 | 8–3 | 4–1 | Dave McClain | 1524 | 7.6 | ||
| 1975 | 9–2 | 4–2 | Dave McClain | 1496 | 15.7 | ||
| 1974 | 2–0 | Dave McClain | 1313 | ||||
| 1973 | 0–3–1 | 0–1 | Dave McClain | 1116 | |||
| 1972 | 1–2 | 1143 | |||||
| 1971 | 0–1–1 | 1112 | |||||
| 1970 | 1–1 | 1112 | |||||
| 1969 | 1–1 | 1084 | |||||
| 1968 | 0–2 | 1053 | |||||
| 1933 | 0–1 | 1082 | |||||
| 1932 | 0–1 | 1094 |
Officially 483–473–32 since 1924 (per Wikipedia, rechecked weekly); game by game here, 287–321–6 (614 of its 988 games are on file). Our file starts in 1932; the program began in 1924. Some games are missing from our source.
No season on file for 1934–67: the program may not have played, or our source may be missing them.
Records are computed from every game on file at CollegeFootballData.com, whose coverage of the earliest seasons can be incomplete. Elo is this site’s own rating; see how it works on the records page.