The college basketball offseason is here, and we decided to have some fun over the next few months, ranking ALL 364 teams in D1. Number 152 is Ball State basketball.
Before you say we’re crazy – or that all of this is up for debate, let’s go over the very intricate process of how we came to this conclusion. We took a very statistical approach – with the help of Chat GPT – taking into consideration everything from March Madness wins and finishes, to AP Poll appearances, to conference players of the year. And then, a good friend of ours, Scott Blanchard, took our approach to the MAX.
Click here to visit the FIRST article, which explains how the formula works!
Here’s the breakdown of Ball State basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 0
- Elite Eights: 0
- Sweet 16s: 1
- NCAA wins: 3
- Bids: 7
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 15.5
- Bids per season: 0.13
- AP Polls: 8
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 0
- NBA players drafted & played: 1
- Conference Players of the Year: 3
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 12
- Conference tournament titles: 7
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on Ball State basketball
While the 21st century hasn’t really agreed with the Cardinals, Ball State basketball used to be one of the top mid-major programs in the country. They made the NCAA Tournament seven times between 1981 and 2000, which is less than once every three years.
After joining the DI scene in 1971, the Cardinals first went dancing in 1981. Head coach Steve Yoder guided them there, and also led them to two straight MAC regular season titles in ’81 and ’82. He would leave for a job at Wisconsin.
Ball State wouldn’t fare as well under Al Brown, who went just 68-75 as their head coach. But they did go back to the big dance in 1986, his best season with the program.
But upon hiring Rick Majerus in 1987, Ball State basketball become a mid-major giant. Majerus led them to a 29-3 record in his second season, helping the Cardinals to a ranking of number 18 in the country in the final AP Poll. Majerus would leave for Utah, but practically every key player was a sophomore or a junior. Pretty much everyone decided to run it back in 1989-90, with Dick Hunsaker now leading the way. They went 26-7, but it included a run to the Sweet 16 as a 12-seed, knocking off Oregon State and Louisville by a total of three points. They fell to 1-seed UNLV by two points, and they would go on to win the whole thing.
Hunsaker would lead Ball State to four straight 20-win seasons and another NCAA Tournament appearance in 1993. And when he left, Ray McCallum came in and picked up right where he left off, leading them to March Madness berths in 1995 and 2000. McCallum never had a losing season, going 126-76 and leading the Cardinals to two more MAC regular season crowns. He was also fortunate enough to coach Bonzi Wells, who was a 2x Mac Player of the Year and scored 2,485 career points between 1994 and 1998. Wells also had 347 career steals. Both rank in the top 100 all-time, with the steals currently at ninth in Division I history.
Unfortunately, Ball State has missed out on the NCAA Tournament ever since. In 26 seasons, they’ve only had a winning record nine times. It isn’t to say they’ve always been a bottom feeder in the MAC, but it definitely is a long way from where they had been.