| Ball State Cardinals | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
 | |||
| University | Ball State University | ||
| Head coach | Michael Lewis (3rd season) | ||
| Conference | Mid-American | ||
| Location | Muncie, Indiana | ||
| Arena | Worthen Arena (capacity: 11,500) | ||
| Nickname | Cardinals | ||
| Student section | The Nest | ||
| Colors | Cardinal and white[1] | ||
| Uniforms | |||
| |||
| NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen | |||
| 1990 | |||
| NCAA tournament round of 32 | |||
| 1989, 1990 | |||
| NCAA tournament appearances | |||
| 1964*, 1981, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1995, 2000 *at Division II level | |||
| NAIA tournament second round | |||
| 1957 | |||
| Conference tournament champions | |||
| 1981, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1995, 2000 | |||
| Conference regular season champions | |||
| 1981, 1982, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1998, 2000 | |||
| Conference division season champions | |||
| 1998, 2000, 2002, 2009, 2016, 2017, 2020 | |||
| Sport | Men's basketball |
|---|---|
| Teams |
|
| First meeting | February 11, 1922 Indiana State 47, Ball State 12 |
| Latest meeting | November 6, 2018 Ball State 86, Indiana State 69 |
| Statistics | |
| Meetings total | 131 |
| All-time series | Indiana State leads, 73–60 |
| Largest victory | Indiana State, 65–19 (1922–23) |
| Longest win streak | Indiana State, 8 (1969–1973) Ball State, 5 (1953–1955) |
| Current win streak | Indiana State, 1 (2020–present) |
| Sport | men's basketball |
|---|---|
| Teams |
|
| First meeting | December 23, 1924 Butler 27, Ball State 13 |
| Latest meeting | November 23, 2013 Ball State 53, Butler 67 |
| Statistics | |
| Meetings total | 105 |
| All-time series | Butler leads, 67–38 |
| Largest victory | Butler, 67–17 (1921–22) |
| Longest win streak | Butler, 13 (1958–1964) Ball State, 7 (1977–1982) |
| Current win streak | Butler, 1 (2012–present) |
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 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.
- ^ "Brand Colors - Ball State University". Retrieved May 23, 2017.