Ball State Cardinals | |
---|---|
University | Ball State University |
Conference | MAC (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 |
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.
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]
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]
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. |
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.
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 |
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.
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]
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.
Ball State's softball team has appeared in two Women's College World Series, in 1973 and 1975. [8]
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!
The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twelve full member schools are in Ohio and Michigan, with single members located in Illinois, Indiana, and New York. For football, the MAC participates in the NCAA's Football Bowl Subdivision.
The Missouri Valley Conference is the fourth-oldest collegiate athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the Midwest though with substantial extension into the South in states like Kentucky, Tennessee, and Arkansas.
The Ohio Bobcats are the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio University, located in Athens, Ohio, United States. Ohio University is a charter member (1946) of the Mid-American Conference (MAC), is currently in the East Division of that conference, and sponsors teams in six men's and ten women's NCAA sanctioned sports. The football team competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level for college football.
The Illinois State Redbirds are the athletic teams that represent Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois. Teams play at the NCAA Division I level. The football team competes in the Missouri Valley Football Conference while most other teams compete in the Missouri Valley Conference. The fight song is Go, You Redbirds.
The Tulsa Golden Hurricane are the athletic teams that represent the University of Tulsa. These teams are referred to as the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. Before adopting the name Golden Hurricane in 1922, the University of Tulsa (TU) had many unofficial team nicknames including Kendallites, Presbyterians, Tulsans, Tigers, Orange and Black, and Yellow Jackets. The name "Golden Tornadoes" was chosen by TU football coach H.M. Archer (1922–24) based on new gold and black uniforms and a remark made during practice of the team "roaring through opponents". However, it was quickly discovered that the same name had been chosen in 1917 by Georgia Tech. Archer then substituted the term "hurricane" for "tornado" and a team vote prior to leaving for the game against Texas A&M confirmed the official nickname as "Golden Hurricane".
The Kent State Golden Flashes are the athletic teams that represent Kent State University. The university fields 19 varsity athletic teams in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level with football competing in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Kent State is a full member of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) and has been part of the MAC East division since it was created in 1998. Official school colors are Kent State Blue and Kent State Gold.
The Akron Zips are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Akron in Akron, Ohio, United States. The Zips compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level as a member of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) East division. Akron sponsors 17 varsity teams across six men's, 10 women's, and one coed NCAA sanctioned sports. The football team competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level of competition for college football.
The Ball State Cardinals men's basketball team represents Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. 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 Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball team represents Northern Illinois University (NIU) in DeKalb, Illinois. The school's team currently competes in the Mid-American Conference (MAC). The team last played in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament in 1996.
The Buffalo Bulls are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University at Buffalo (UB) in Buffalo, New York. The Bulls compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level as a member of Mid-American Conference (MAC) East Division, having joined the conference in 1998. Buffalo sponsors teams in seven men's and nine women's NCAA sanctioned sports. The football team competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level for college football.
The UIC Flames are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Chicago, located in Chicago, Illinois, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) since the 2022–23 academic year. The Flames previously competed in the D-I Horizon League from 1994–95 to 2021–22; in the D-I Mid-Continent Conference from 1982–83 to 1993–94; as an NCAA D-I Independent during the 1981–82 school year; and in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 1949–50 to about 1980–81. Michael Lipitz joined UIC in October 2019 as the athletic director.
The Murray State Racers are the athletic teams that represent Murray State University (MSU), located in Murray, Kentucky, United States, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division I ranks, primarily competing in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) since the 2022–23 academic year. The Racers previously competed in the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) from 1948–49 to 2021–22; and in the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 1933–34 to 1947–48.
The Northern Illinois Huskies are the athletic teams that represent Northern Illinois University (NIU). The Huskies are a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I and the Mid-American Conference (MAC). The athletic program is made up of seven men's sports and 10 women's sports. The football team competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS).
Catholic University of America's intercollegiate sports teams are called the Cardinals after the northern cardinal, and they compete in the NCAA's Division III. They are members of the Landmark Conference, the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (football) and the Mid-Atlantic Rowing Conference (rowing). The team colors are red and black.
Brady Sallee is an American women's college basketball coach. He is the current head women's basketball coach at Ball State University. He previously held the same position at Eastern Illinois University (EIU) in Charleston, Illinois.
The 2015–16 Ball State Cardinals women's basketball team represented Ball State University during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Cardinals, led by fourth-year head coach Brady Sallee, played their home games at Worthen Arena as members of the West Division of the Mid-American Conference (MAC). They finished the season 22–10, 13–5 in MAC play, and finished the season in second place in the West Division. They lost in the quarterfinals of the MAC women's tournament to Eastern Michigan. They were invited to the Women's National Invitation Tournament, where they defeated Iowa Hawkeyes in the first round before losing in the second round to Saint Louis.
The 2017–18 Ball State Cardinals women's basketball team represented Ball State University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship season. The Cardinals, led by sixth year head coach Brady Sallee, played their home games at Worthen Arena as members of the West Division of the Mid-American Conference. They finished the season 25–7, 13–5 in MAC play to finish in second place in the West Division. They lost in the quarterfinals of the MAC women's tournament to Western Michigan. They received an automatic bid to the Women's National Invitation Tournament, where they defeated Middle Tennessee in the first round before losing in the second round to Purdue.
The 2018–19 Ball State Cardinals women's basketball team represented Ball State University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Cardinals, led by seventh year head coach Brady Sallee, played their home games at Worthen Arena as members of the West Division of the Mid-American Conference. They seeked to qualify for the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament for the second time and the first time since 2009 but they finished the season 8–23, 3–15 in MAC play to finish in last place in the West Division. They lost in the first of the MAC women's tournament to Toledo.
The 2020–21 Ball State Cardinals women's basketball team represent Ball State University during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Cardinals, led by ninth-year head coach Brady Sallee, play their home games at Worthen Arena as members of the West Division of the Mid-American Conference.
The 2023–24 Ball State Cardinals women's basketball team represented Ball State University during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Cardinals, led by 12th year head coach Brady Sallee, played their home games at the Worthen Arena in Muncie, Indiana as a member of the Mid-American Conference.