Ball State Cardinals

Intercollegiate sports teams of Ball State University

Athletic teams representing Ball State University

Ball State Cardinals

University| Ball State University
Conference| Mid-American (primary)
MIVA (men's volleyball)
MVC (men's swimming & diving)
NCAA| Division I (FBS)
Athletic director| Jeff Mitchell
Location| Muncie, Indiana
Varsity teams| 18
Football stadium| Scheumann Stadium
Basketball arena| Worthen Arena
Baseball stadium| Ball Diamond
Mascot| Charlie Cardinal
Nickname| Cardinals
Fight song| Fight, Team, Fight
Colors| Cardinal and white[1]

Website| ballstatesports.com

The Ball State Cardinals are the athletic teams that represent Ball State University, located in Muncie, Indiana. The Cardinals are part of the NCAA Division I Mid-American Conference. Charlie Cardinal is the team mascot.

The Ball State University Pride of Mid-America Marching Band performs at all home football games, many home basketball games, and various other athletic and spirit events across campus.

## Nickname

[edit]

Previously known as the Hoosieroons, the university fell out of favor with the nickname. Then-President L.A. Pittenger told The Easterner, Ball State's newspaper, "[Hoosieroons] is entirely too long", while football assistant coach (and future head coach) Paul B. Parker said, "Hoosieroons is a joke over the state." In 1927, Pittenger led a committee that looked over a list of 45 names—including Goblins, Steamers, Fleet-foot Warriors, Muncie Gleaners, Magicians, Fighting Normalites, and Scrappin' Teachers—all 45 of which were rejected.

On the morning of November 30, a meeting between then-athletic director Paul "Billy" Williams and head football coach Norman G. Wann led to the pair coming up with the idea for the "Cardinals" nickname after seeing a St. Louis Cardinals sweatshirt. They inferred the nickname would work well as the cardinal was the state bird of Indiana. In a student body vote, "Cardinals" won in a landslide with 234 votes out of 500 (77 votes going to "Hoosieroons"). Ball State athletic teams promptly adopted the nickname, and have been known as the "Cardinals" since.[2]

## Sports sponsored

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A member of the Mid-American Conference (MAC), Ball State sponsors teams in seven men's and 12 women's NCAA sanctioned sports.[3] The men's volleyball team is a member of the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association. Men's swimming & diving moved from the MAC to the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) when sponsorship of that sport transferred from the MAC to the MVC in 2024–25.[4]

Ball State is a member of the Mid-American Conference Men's sports  | Women's sports

|

Baseball | Basketball
Basketball | Cross country
Football | Field hockey
Golf | Golf
Swimming & diving | Gymnastics
Tennis | Soccer
Volleyball | Softball
| Swimming & diving
| Tennis
| Track and field†
| Volleyball
† – Track and field includes both indoor and outdoor.

### Football

[edit]

Main article: Ball State Cardinals football

Ball State v Army game in 2014

The Ball State Cardinals compete in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision and the Mid-American Conference. It had been a member of the conference's West Division in football from the start of divisional play in 1997 until divisions were eliminated after the 2023 season. The current head coach is Mike Neu.[5] The Cardinals play at Scheumann Stadium.

On October 5, 2008, Ball State was ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 poll for the first time in team history, and reached a ranking as high as 12th in the nation during the course of the season. Ball State completed the 2008 regular season with a record of 12–0 and a conference record of 8–0. They won the MAC West Division championship before falling to Buffalo in the MAC Championship at Ford Field in Detroit. Shortly after the departure of head coach Brady Hoke, Ball State lost to the University of Tulsa in the GMAC Bowl on January 6, 2009, by a score of 45–13.

### Bowl games

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The Cardinals have gone to eight Division I bowl games. They have a 1–8 record in these games, with their last appearance being a 51–20 loss to Georgia State in the Camellia Bowl.

Date  | Bowl game  | Winner  | Loser

|
|
|

December 9, 1989 | California Bowl | Fresno State | 27 | Ball State | 6
December 17, 1993 | Las Vegas Bowl | Utah State | 42 | Ball State | 33
December 18, 1996 | Las Vegas Bowl | Nevada | 18 | Ball State | 15
January 5, 2008 | International Bowl | Rutgers | 52 | Ball State | 30
January 6, 2009 | GMAC Bowl | Tulsa | 45 | Ball State | 13
December 21, 2012 | Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl | UCF | 38 | Ball State | 17
January 5, 2014 | GoDaddy Bowl | Arkansas State | 23 | Ball State | 20
December 31, 2020 | Arizona Bowl | Ball State | 34 | San Jose State | 13
December 25, 2021 | Camellia Bowl | Georgia State | 51 | Ball State | 20

### Men's basketball

[edit]

Main article: Ball State Cardinals men's basketball

Ball State (in black) v Franz Wagner game,

The Cardinals first basketball season was 1920–21. The school's team currently competes in the Mid-American Conference. The team last played in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament in 2000.

The Cardinals have had various levels of success throughout their 94 seasons of competition. Although there was little success in the program from its start until the 1970s, the next two decades would be the highlight of the program's performance. Ball State became a sporadic leader in the Mid-American Conference, winning a record seven MAC tournaments between 1981 and 2000. The Cardinals also accomplished a large feat during the 2001 Maui Invitational Tournament, when they upset #4 Kansas and #3 UCLA on consecutive days. In 2017, the Cardinals beat #8 Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Purcell Pavilion by a score of 80-77, breaking a sixteen year drought against ranked teams.

### Women's basketball

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Main article: Ball State Cardinals women's basketball

The Ball State Cardinals' women's basketball team won their first MAC tournament in 2009 and subsequently went to their first-ever NCAA Tournament. In the first round, they beat the Tennessee Lady Volunteers 71–55 in Bowling Green, Kentucky. 12th-seeded Ball State's win over 5th-seeded Tennessee was the Lady Volunteers' first first-round loss in the 28-year history of the women's NCAA Tournament. The Cardinals earned a lot of attention for their historic first round win and briefly became the Cinderella, feel-good story of the NCAA Tournament before losing to the Iowa State Cyclones 57–71 in the second round. On March 21, 2012, head coach Kelly Packard resigned[6] On May 12, 2012, Brady Sallee, the former coach at Eastern Illinois University, was named the eleventh head coach in the program's history.[7]

### Baseball

[edit]

Main article: Ball State Cardinals baseball

The Ball State baseball team plays in the MAC West Division. They play on Ball Diamond. Their head coach is Rich Maloney, who formerly coached the Cardinals, with an extended stint with the University of Michigan in between. The team began play in 1918. The Cardinals have had 8 players drafted in the first round of the Major League Baseball Draft. Their most notable alumni though is Mr. Jonny Cisna, the inventor of the term launch angle.

### Softball

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Ball State's softball team has appeared in two Women's College World Series, in 1973 and 1975.[8]

## Fight song

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The "Ball State Fight Song" was written by Carl Hofer in 1930. The lyrics go:

Fight team fight for Ball State

We must win this game

Onward now you Cardinals

Bring glory to your name

Fight! Fight! Fight!

Here's to both our colors

Cardinal and White

Praying for a victory

So fight, fight, fight!

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Brand Colors - Ball State University". Retrieved May 23, 2017.
2. ^ ""Cardinals" New Name for Teams". The Easterner. December 2, 1927. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
3. ^ "(Cardinal logo) Ball State Cardinals". Ball State University. Retrieved 25 December 2016.
4. ^ "MVC To Sponsor Men's Swimming & Diving in 2024-25" (Press release). Missouri Valley Conference. April 11, 2024. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
5. ^ "Ball State Athletics". ballstatesports.com. Retrieved 2017-09-27.
6. ^ St. Myer, Thomas (March 21, 2012). "Kelly Packard resigns as Ball State women's basketball coach". The Star Press.
7. ^ "Brady Sallee Named Head Women's Basketball Coach - Ball State University Athletics".
8. ^ Plummer, William; Floyd, Larry C. (2013). A Series Of Their Own: History Of The Women's College World Series. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States: Turnkey Communications Inc. ISBN 978-0-9893007-0-4.

## External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ball State University athletics.

* Official website

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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
* Men's volleyball

|

Venues|

* Irving Gymnasium
* Scheumann Stadium
* Shebek 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

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Sports teams based in Indiana

Baseball|

Indianapolis Indians

Fort Wayne TinCaps
South Bend Cubs

Gary SouthShore RailCats

Evansville Otters
NwL
Kokomo Jackrabbits

Dubois County Bombers
Lafayette Aviators
Terre Haute Rex

Basketball|

NBA
Indiana Pacers
WNBA
Indiana Fever
G League
Noblesville Boom
ABA
Indiana Lyons

Football|

NFL
Indianapolis Colts
IFL
Fishers Freight

Hockey|

ECHL
Fort Wayne Komets
Indy Fuel
SPHL
Evansville Thunderbolts
FPHL
Indiana Sentinels

Motorsport|

IndyCar
Andretti Global
Arrow McLaren
Chip Ganassi Racing
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IMSA
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Indy NXT
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Roller derby|

WFTDA
Demolition City Roller Derby
Fort Wayne Roller Derby
Naptown Roller Derby

Soccer|

USLC
Indy Eleven
USL2
Fort Wayne FC
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NPSL
F.C. Indiana
WPSL
F.C. Indiana

Ultimate|

UFA
Indianapolis AlleyCats
Premier Ultimate League
Indianapolis Red

Volleyball|

Pro Volleyball Federation
Indy Ignite

College athletics|

| NCAA
Division I|

Ball State Cardinals
Butler Bulldogs
Evansville Purple Aces
Indiana Hoosiers
Indiana State Sycamores
IU Indy Jaguars
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Purdue Boilermakers
Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons
Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles
Valparaiso Beacons

|

NCAA
Division II|

Indianapolis Greyhounds
Purdue Northwest Pride

NCAA
Division III|

Anderson Ravens and Lady Ravens
DePauw Tigers
Rose-Hulman Fightin' Engineers
Wabash Little Giants

NAIA|

Indiana Wesleyan Wildcats
Marian Knights
Oakland City Mighty Oaks
Saint Francis Cougars
Taylor Trojans

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Mid-American Conference

Full members|

* Akron Zips
* Ball State Cardinals
* Bowling Green Falcons
* Buffalo Bulls
* Central Michigan Chippewas
* Eastern Michigan Eagles
* Kent State Golden Flashes
* Miami RedHawks
* Northern Illinois Huskies7
* Ohio Bobcats
* Toledo Rockets
* Western Michigan Broncos

Future members|

* UMass Minutemen8

Affiliate members|

* Appalachian State Mountaineers1
* Bellarmine Knights1
* James Madison Dukes1
* Longwood Lancers1
* Detroit Mercy Titans2
* Robert Morris Colonials2
* Youngstown State Penguins2
* Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens3
* High Point Panthers3
* Temple Owls3
* UIC Flames4
* Bloomsburg Huskies5
* Clarion Golden Eagles5
* Cleveland State Vikings5 6
* Edinboro Fighting Scots5
* George Mason Patriots5
* Lock Haven Bald Eagles5
* Rider Broncs5
* SIU Edwardsville Cougars5

Seasons|

* 1946–47
* 1947–48
* 1948–49
* 1949–50
* 1950–51
* 1951–52
* 1952–53
* 1953–54
* 1954–55
* 1955–56
* 1956–57
* 1957–58
* 1958–59
* 1959–60
* 1960–61
* 1961–62
* 1962–63
* 1963–64
* 1964–65
* 1965–66
* 1966–67
* 1967–68
* 1968–69
* 1969–70
* 1970–71
* 1971–72
* 1972–73
* 1973–74
* 1974–75
* 1975–76
* 1976–77
* 1977–78
* 1978–79
* 1979–80
* 1980–81
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* 1982–83
* 1983–84
* 1984–85
* 1985–86
* 1986–87
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* 1989–90
* 1990–91
* 1991–92
* 1992–93
* 1993–94
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* 1995–96
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* 1999–00
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* 2010–11
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* 2013–14
* 2014–15
* 2015–16
* 2016–17
* 2017–18
* 2018–19
* 2019–20
* 2020–21
* 2021–22
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* 2023–24
* 2024–25

Championships|

* Conference champions

* 1field hockey
* 2women's lacrosse
* 3women's rowing (from 2025–26)
* 4men's tennis
* 5wrestling
* 6(leaving in 2025)
* 7(leaving in 2026)
* 8(joining in 2025)

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Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association

Current members|

* Ball State Cardinals
* Lewis Flyers
* Lindenwood Lions
* Loyola Ramblers
* McKendree Bearcats
* Ohio State Buckeyes
* Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons
* Queens Royals
* Quincy Hawks (leaving in 2025)

Future members|

* Northern Kentucky Norse (joining in 2025)

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Missouri Valley Conference

Members|

* Belmont Bruins
* Bradley Braves
* Drake Bulldogs
* Evansville Purple Aces
* Illinois State Redbirds
* Indiana State Sycamores
* Missouri State Bears and Lady Bears (leaving in 2025)
* Murray State Racers
* Northern Iowa Panthers
* Southern Illinois Salukis
* Valparaiso Beacons
* UIC Flames

Men's soccer associates|

* Bowling Green Falcons
* Northern Illinois Huskies
* Western Michigan Broncos

Men's swimming & diving associates|

* Ball State Cardinals
* Miami RedHawks

Women's swimming & diving associate|

* Little Rock Trojans

Championships & awards|

* Baseball tournament
* Men's basketball tournament (Arch Madness)
* Women's basketball tournament (Hoops in the Heartland)
* Men's soccer tournament
* Women's soccer tournament
* Hall of Fame

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