Ball State Cardinals football

Ball State Cardinals
2023 Ball State Cardinals football team
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[1]
Fight song	Ball State Fight Song
Mascot	Charlie Cardinal
Marching band	The Pride of Mid-America Marching Band
Website	BallStateSports.com

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.

The Cardinals have a 476–455–32 record, which ranks below the top 50 most victories among NCAA FBS programs.^[2] 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.^[3]