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1996 Ball State

8–⁠4 (7–⁠1 Mid-American Conference), coached by Bill Lynch.

Schedule and results

Ball State in 1996, game by game: lost at No. 25 Kansas 10–35; lost vs. Miami (OH) 6–16; lost at Minnesota 23–26; won vs. UCF 31–10; won at Western Michigan 28–5; won vs. Ohio 30–27; won at Bowling Green 16–11; won at Central Michigan 24–17; won at Eastern Michigan 39–25; won vs. Kent State 50–6; won vs. Toledo 24–14; lost vs. Nevada 15–18+44−25Lost 10–35 at No. 25 Kansas-25No. 25 KansasLost 6–16 vs. Miami (OH)-10Miami (OH)Lost 23–26 at Minnesota-3MinnesotaWon 31–10 vs. UCF+21UCFWon 28–5 at Western Michigan+23Western MichiganWon 30–27 vs. Ohio+3OhioWon 16–11 at Bowling Green+5Bowling GreenWon 24–17 at Central Michigan+7Central MichiganWon 39–25 at Eastern Michigan+14Eastern MichiganWon 50–6 vs. Kent State+44Kent StateWon 24–14 vs. Toledo+10ToledoLost 15–18 vs. Nevada-3Nevada
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 29at25KansasL 10–⁠3529%
Sep 7vsMiami (OH)L 6–⁠1644%
Sep 14atMinnesotaL 23–⁠2644%
Sep 21vsUCFW 31–⁠1075%
Oct 5atWestern MichiganW 28–⁠554%
Oct 12vsOhioW 30–⁠2771%
Oct 19atBowling GreenW 16–⁠1141%
Oct 26atCentral MichiganW 24–⁠1750%
Nov 2atEastern MichiganW 39–⁠2564%
Nov 9vsKent StateW 50–⁠689%
Nov 16vsToledoW 24–⁠1465%
Dec 19Bowls & playoffvsNevadaLas Vegas BowlL 15–⁠1850%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Nevada 18–⁠15 in the Las Vegas Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; Mid-American Conference champions.

In program history: The 6th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 61 on file).

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1996.

Mid-American Conference champions7–⁠1 in the conference

Consensus All-AmericanBrad Maynard, P

Record
8–⁠4
Conference
7–⁠1 first in Mid-American Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
296–⁠210
Coach
Bill Lynch
Elo
1570 +71 this season
SP+ rating
3.1 No. 52 of 111; offense No. 79, defense No. 34
SRS
−3.6 No. 67 of 111 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—

Drafted in 1997

The 1997 draft
Rd 3Brad Maynard PNew York Giants
Rd 4Cory Gilliard DBDenver Broncos

1996 Mid-American Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ball State7–⁠18–⁠4
Toledo6–⁠27–⁠4
Miami (OH)6–⁠26–⁠5
Ohio5–⁠36–⁠6
Central Michigan4–⁠45–⁠6
Akron3–⁠54–⁠7
Bowling Green3–⁠54–⁠7
Eastern Michigan3–⁠53–⁠8
Western Michigan2–⁠62–⁠9
Kent State1–⁠72–⁠9

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.