Ball State Cardinals football


The Ball State Cardinals football team is a college football program representing Ball State University in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football. Mike Neu is the current head coach. Ball State plays its home games on 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 Cardinals have a 421-381-32 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 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 program in 1981, dropping to Division I-AA for a single season before returning to Division I-A.

Conference affiliations

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

Conference championships

Division championships

Bowl games

Ball State has appeared in seven NCAA Division I postseason bowl games, in which they have compiled a 0–7 record. Of all the FBS teams, Ball State is one of eleven that have never won a sanctioned bowl game.
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 and Dave McClain.

Rivalries

Indiana State

Ball State leads the series with Indiana State 38–24–1 with the last game played in 2014.

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 27 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, the Canadian Football League, and the Arena Football League.

Active

As of January 2020, there are a total of four Cardinals listed on team rosters in the NFL, CFL,, AFL, and XFL.

Among the numerous Cardinals who have participated in the NFL, CFL, and AFL, three have received all-star recognition by their respective leagues.
Announced schedules as of December 27, 2019.