Ball State Cardinals football
The Ball State Cardinals football team is a college football program representing Ball State University in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football. Mike Neu is the head coach. Ball State plays its home games at 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.
| Ball State Cardinals | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| First season | 1924 | ||
| Athletic director | Jeff Mitchell | ||
| Head coach | Mike Neu 7th season, 37–56 (.398) | ||
| Stadium | Scheumann Stadium (capacity: 22,500) | ||
| Year built | 1967 | ||
| Field surface | SprinTurf | ||
| Location | Muncie, Indiana | ||
| NCAA division | Division I FBS | ||
| Conference | Mid-American Conference | ||
| Division | West | ||
| Past conferences | IIC (1934–1947) ICC (1951–1967) | ||
| All-time record | 476–455–32 (.511) | ||
| Bowl record | 1–8 (.111) | ||
| Conference titles | 11 | ||
| Division titles | 4 | ||
| Rivalries | Indiana State (rivalry) Northern Illinois (rivalry) Miami (rivalry) | ||
| Current uniform | |||
| Colors | Cardinal and white | ||
| Fight song | Ball State Fight Song | ||
| Mascot | Charlie Cardinal | ||
| Marching band | The Pride of Mid-America Marching Band | ||
| Website | BallStateSports.com | ||
The Cardinals have a 476–455–32 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 (NJCAA) 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 (now FBS) program in 1981, dropping to Division I-AA for a single season (1982) before returning to Division I-A.