Ranking the Top 131 College Football Programs of the Last 40 Years: 89. Ball State
Ball (so Hard) University
Ball State comes in at one spot above in-state foe Indiana. and is the 3rd best program in the state behind Notre Dame and Purdue. Moving up to the FBS in 1975, Ball State’s had an underrated tenure, going 269-279-4 with 6 conference championships, 9 bowl appearances, and 11 weeks in the AP Top 25.
Best Seasons and Highlights
+------+------------+------+--------------+--------+
| rank | team | year | resume score | record |
+------+------------+------+--------------+--------+
| 10 | Ball State | 2020 | 29.151 | 7-1 |
| 23 | Ball State | 2008 | 19.624 | 12-2 |
| 43 | Ball State | 2013 | 7.413 | 10-3 |
| 32 | Ball State | 1988 | 7.382 | 8-3 |
| 41 | Ball State | 2012 | 5.166 | 9-4 |
| 36 | Ball State | 1989 | 4.173 | 7-3-2 |
| 36 | Ball State | 1996 | -0.777 | 8-4 |
| 47 | Ball State | 1995 | -1.286 | 7-4 |
| 35 | Ball State | 1993 | -1.292 | 8-3-1 |
| 51 | Ball State | 1990 | -5.881 | 7-4 |
| 59 | Ball State | 1994 | -11.641 | 5-5-1 |
| 67 | Ball State | 2007 | -11.913 | 7-6 |
| 58 | Ball State | 1991 | -12.407 | 6-5 |
| 67 | Ball State | 1986 | -15.698 | 6-5 |
| 69 | Ball State | 1983 | -18.52 | 6-5 |
| 71 | Ball State | 1997 | -19.737 | 5-6 |
| 81 | Ball State | 2011 | -19.965 | 6-6 |
| 78 | Ball State | 2001 | -20.533 | 5-6 |
| 75 | Ball State | 1992 | -20.69 | 5-6 |
| 87 | Ball State | 2021 | -21.746 | 6-7 |
| 72 | Ball State | 2002 | -21.776 | 6-6 |
| 87 | Ball State | 2019 | -22.103 | 5-7 |
| 76 | Ball State | 2006 | -22.14 | 5-7 |
| 90 | Ball State | 2014 | -24.446 | 5-7 |
| 98 | Ball State | 2022 | -25.017 | 5-7 |
| 81 | Ball State | 2000 | -25.264 | 5-6 |
| 80 | Ball State | 1987 | -27.212 | 4-7 |
| 97 | Ball State | 2005 | -30.054 | 4-7 |
| 91 | Ball State | 2003 | -32.432 | 4-8 |
| 86 | Ball State | 1985 | -33.751 | 4-7 |
| 102 | Ball State | 2016 | -35.128 | 4-8 |
| 104 | Ball State | 2010 | -40.296 | 4-8 |
| 108 | Ball State | 2018 | -40.344 | 4-8 |
| 91 | Ball State | 1984 | -40.722 | 3-8 |
| 111 | Ball State | 2015 | -45.086 | 3-9 |
| 109 | Ball State | 2009 | -48.654 | 2-10 |
| 110 | Ball State | 2004 | -50.524 | 2-9 |
| 109 | Ball State | 1998 | -59.094 | 1-10 |
| 127 | Ball State | 2017 | -62.173 | 2-10 |
| 113 | Ball State | 1999 | -70.806 | 0-11 |
+------+------------+------+--------------+--------+
Overall Score: 8230 (89th)212-248-4 record
4 conference titles
1-8 bowl record
2 consensus All-Americans
13 NFL players drafted
Ball State has been pretty consistent, with 26 of their 40 seasons since 1983 having 5+ wins. 4 conference titles is also not bad—3 came between 1989-96, arguably Ball State’s peak with 7 of those 8 years falling into the top 13 seasons in the chart above. It took them 46 years to win their first bowl game, failing on the first 7 tries before finally winning in 2020! Ball State’s 2 consensus All-Americans? 1 person—Brad Maynard, punter. Maynard averaged 46.5 and 45.8 yards per punt in 1995 and 1996, respectively. He was drafted in the 3rd round of the 1997 NFL Draft, and would go on to be the Bears’ punter from 2001-10.
Top 5 Seasons
Worst Season: 1999 (0-11 overall, 0-8 MAC)
While the world worried about the Y2K meltdown, Ball State worried about their program melting down. Going just 1-21 from 1998-99, 2 of their 3 worst seasons on this list, the program reached lows it had never seen. Coach Bill Lynch was an Indiana die-hard—he was born in Indianapolis, went to Butler, and since starting his coaching career in 1977, has only spent 2 years coaching outside the state of Indiana. This was Lynch’s 5th season with Ball State. While they weren’t getting manhandled (only one 30+ point loss) like some winless teams have, they weren’t particularly close to getting a win either (only 1 one-possession loss). They averaged 14.3 PPG while giving up 32.8 PPG, and were my 2nd worst team in the nation. Kicker Thomas Pucke was impressively inept, hitting just 2 of 8 FGs. He managed to hang around for 2 more years and convert 6 of 15 for a 4 year total of 12/31 on FGs for a 38.7 FG%. For context, the all time worst FG% of someone with 50+ attempts is 75%.
5. 2012 (9-4 overall, 6-2 MAC)
The Ball State Football youtube channel put out a fantastic 15 minute recap of the 2012 season. Coming off a 6-6 year, there was momentum heading into 2012, but uncertainty with losing their top 2 WRs and an unproven defense. The year started with a bang, recording a school record 36 first downs against Eastern Michigan in a season-opening 37-26 win. Indiana took a 39-38 lead with 50 seconds to go in week 3—just enough time for QB Keith Wenning and kicker Steven Schott, who hit a 42 yard FG as time expired for the 41-39 Ball State win. Ball State got their second win over a Power 6 opponent the following week, beating South Florida 31-27 on another late win, this time Wenning to WR Willie Snead. After going back and forth with MAC competition, 6-3 Ball State headed to the Glass Bowl on election night to face #23 Toledo. Ball State rose to the occasion with another last minute TD to win 34-27. A 52-27 win over formerly-ranked Ohio, who had beaten Penn State to start the year, proved even more impressive. Ball State finished the regular season 9-3, with a loss to C-USA runner-up Blake Bortles and UCF in the bowl.
Ball State led the MAC with 15 all-conference selections. QB Keith Wenning threw for 3095 yards, with 24 TD and 10 INT, earning 2nd Team All-MAC. RB Jahwan Edwards had a monster year with 1410 rushing yards and 14 TD on 6.1 YPC, but only made 3rd team in a stacked MAC RB class. WRs Willie Snead, Jamill Smith, and TE Zane Fakes were all 1st Team MAC. Kicker Steven Schott was a Lou Groza Award semifinalist, going 25/32 on FGs, and punter Scott Kovanda was a Ray Guy Award finalist.
4. 1988 (8-3 overall, 5-3 MAC)
While 2012 was an offensive explosion, 1988 was about defense, boasting one of the best in the country. 1988 Ball State gave up just 15.5 PPG, while scoring 26.0 PPG. After a 7-1 (5-1 MAC) start, Ball State played Western Michigan (7-1, 5-0) for first place in the conference. Western Michigan took it in a 16-13 dogfight, and it wouldn’t matter much anyway, as Ball State dropped their last conference game 25-27 to Ohio. Back then, Ball State had an annual rivalry against Indiana State for the Blue Key Victory Bell, and the Cardinals got revenge for ISU’s 24-23 upset the year prior, winning 24-10. The most points Ball State gave up all season was just 27, and held opponents to 20 or less in every other game.
3. 2013 (10-3 overall, 7-1 MAC)
Picking up where we left off in 2012, Ball State returned Wenning, Edwards, Snead, Fakes, so this team had a lot of potential. Early wins included 31-24 over traditional MAC power Toledo, and 48-27 over Virginia, who had given up just 16 points or less in 3 of their first 4 games. Ball State lived up to the hype—and then some. Blowout wins over Western Michigan, Akron, and Central Michigan took them all the way to 8-1, setting up a matchup with 9-0 #20 Northern Illinois in the premier MAC game of the season. The winner would clinch a spot in the MAC title game, Ball State looking for their first title in 17 years. They went back and forth—deadlocked at 27-27 with 6 minutes left, NIU QB Jordan Lynch fired a 36 yard TD to take the lead, and a few garbage time scores gave NIU a nice looking 48-27 victory that was much closer than the score suggested. Ball State took out their anger on a hapless 0-11 Miami (OH) team to end the year, winning 55-14. Still looking for their first bowl win ever, they came as close as they’ve ever come, giving up a TD with 30 seconds left to lose 23-20 to Arkansas State. Still—an insane year for Ball State, winning 10+ games for just the 3rd time in school history. QB Keith Wenning threw for 4148 yards 35 TD 7 INT, ranking 6th in the nation in passing yards and TDs. RB Jahwan Edwards had his 2nd of 3 1000+ yard seasons, going for 1110 and 14 TD. He’d finish his career as Ball State’s all-time leading rusher a year later with 4558 yards and 51 TD. WR Willie Snead had the capstone of his college career with 106 catches for 1516 yards and 15 TD, ranking 3rd in the NCAA in receiving yards and TD. The 6’3 228 lb Jordan Williams proved to be a very good WR2 with 1000+ receiving yards, and would go on to have 200 catches for 2723 yards and 23 TD in his career, top 6 in school history in all of those categories. Wenning was a 6th round NFL Draft selection, and Snead went on to have a solid NFL career.
2. 2008 (12-2 overall, 8-0 MAC)
The 2008 team took the nation by storm. Ball State returned their all-conference QB, WR, TE, and 8 starters on defense from a 7 win team the previous season. Right away, with a week 2 35-23 win over Navy, they proved the prevous season’s win over them wasn’t a fluke. 2 weeks later, they’d make history, beating Indiana 42-20 in the program’s first ever win over a BCS team. Did they stop there? Nope. 3 weeks later they were 7-0, and #22 in the country. This was a great year for non-BCS teams, with Boise State and Utah also going unbeaten in the regular season. The beatings continued, as Ball State kept surprising everyone—38-16 over Eastern Michigan, 45-14 over NIU. Late in the year, #16 9-0 Ball State faced their toughest test of the season, heading north to play 8-2 preseason conference favorite Central Michigan. Down 7 points in the 4th quarter, QB Nate Davis guided the Cardinals back to a 31-24 lead, and a late interception sealed the deal. Ball State still hadn’t secured the MAC title game until the final week, where they beat 9-2 Western Michigan 45-22. Into the MAC championship we go. #12 Ball State was an overwhelming 15 point favorite over 7-5 Buffalo, who was just happy to be there. Ball State’s dream matchup quickly turned into a nightmare. Buffalo had 92 and 74 yard fumble returns for TDs, cruising to a 42-24 upset victory in which they were outgained by 200+ yards. Brady Hoke took the job at San Diego State, and a dejected interim-coached team got blown out 45-14 by Tulsa in the bowl.
QB Nate Davis, the original 2-gloved QB before Teddy “2 glove” Bridgewater was a thing, completed his illustrious college career, throwing for 3591 yards 26 TD 8 INT, leading the MAC in passer rating for the 3rd straight year, and winning 2008 MAC OPOTY. The 5’6 184 lb RB MiQuale Lewis was pound-for-pound one of the best players in college football, rushing for 1736 yards and 22 TD on 5.4 YPC, also racking up 325 receiving yards, ranking 2nd in the nation in yards from scrimmage and 1st in TDs. TE Darius Hill completed his career as one of the best TEs in MAC history, catching 40 passes for 670 yards and 7 TD to finish his career with 2473 yards and 31 TD. Unfortunately, WR Dante Love’s career came to an end 4 games into the season, one of Ball State’s best ever wideouts who caught 100 passes for 1398 yards and 10 TD in 2007. It was an amazing year for Ball State—but no hardware to show for it.
1. 2020 (7-1 overall, 5-1 MAC)
2008, or 2020 Ball State, who was better? The Ball State youtube channel(s) seriously make some of the best season recap videos of any school. After an opening 31-38 loss at Miami (OH), they were perfect the rest of the way. A 1-yard rushing TD with 6 seconds left secured a 38-31 win over Eastern Michigan to improve to 1-1. 2 weeks later, a 27-24 upset over Toledo improved them to 3-1. It was still a long season ahead with just a MAC schedule in a covid-shortened season, with the toughest games yet to come. A 45-20 road win over 3-1 Central Michigan thanks to 5 TD from QB Drew Plitt improved Ball State to 4-1, with 1 regular season game to go. This is where the 2020 team separated themselves from all other Ball State teams. Facing 4-1 Western Michigan with the winner going to the MAC championship game, Ball State was down 27-13 at the start of the 4th. After a 17-0 point 4th quarter, they had the lead with just seconds to go. Western Michigan tossing laterals around…OH THE ENTIRE BALL STATE TEAM IS ON THE FIELD!! And Western Michigan scores for the win!! Unbelievable!! It turns out though, one of the laterals was forward, and the refs award Ball State the victory. They go to the MAC championship game at 5-1!
Remember how 2008 Ball State came into the game 15 point favorites against Buffalo and lost? This time, the roles were reversed. Ball State came into the 2020 championship as 13 point underdogs to 5-0 Buffalo. And just like 2008, David slaid Goliath. Ball State took the MAC Championship 38-28, their first since 1996. But still, people hadn’t caught on. Ball State entered the Arizona Bowl as 6.5 point underdogs to #23 San Jose State. 35 minutes of game time later, and Ball State was up 34-0. When the final whistle sounded on a 34-13 bowl victory, it was the FIRST BOWL WIN IN BALL STATE HISTORY! While 2008 was a great year, 2020 takes the cake because they completed the quest of winning a conference title and bowl game. LB Brandon Martin was the MAC DPOTY, leading the conference in tackles with 90.
5th Quarter
Agree with Ball State’s ranking, ahead of in-state rival Indiana? What do you think of their program? Do you remember their 2008 and 2020 seasons?
Ranking the Top 131 College Football Programs of the Last 40 Years - Main Hub
