For decades, the Mid-American Conference served as the heartbeat of college football. It introduced us to the madness that is mid-week MACtion, paving the way for other leagues (Conference USA, Sun Belt) to capitalize on the TV window. It’s given us unlikely national heroes like Jordan Lynch and Chad Pennington. And if you look, the MAC still delivers that magic college football feeling today.
As a MAC grad, I felt like I had a pretty good pulse on what to expect from the conference’s members. Ohio is the life of the party, Toledo tops in tailgating and prestige… but I hadn’t heard much about Ball State.
Turns out, it’s the MAC’s best-kept secret.
While the future of the MAC remains very much in flux amid a fundamental shift to college football, you can count on an afternoon well-spent at Scheumann Stadium.
What can you expect on your next trip to Muncie? Read on for my full guide on a Ball State football game day below.
Back Home Again In Indiana
Two schools in the MAC really boast their campus, Miami (OH) and Ohio. But throw another contender into that top tier — Ball State.
There’s a few distinct sections of campus. If you parked north of campus for the game, you’ll walk backwards through time. Finally, the north end of campus is the newest and features multi-million dollar facilities for housing and dining. Continue south to the main artery of campus and find the famed bell tower, which serves on most Ball State promotional material. Here’s also where you’ll find the Frog Baby statue, a quirky fountain where, if you wade out (or step into the dry fountain) and rub the baby’s nose, it’s supposed to bring good luck. To avoid a run-in with campus PD, I opted not to step into the dry fountain.
The south end features ornate old-style college buildings, with the David Owsley Museum of Art (DOMA) being the feature structure. The Beneficence statue is also here in old campus, a fountain with the story of Ball State inscribed that’s worth the visit. Ball State’s campus is pretty large for its 21,000 enrollees and for a MAC school (compared to Bowling Green, Kent State, and the likes). The grounds are as well-maintained as you’ll find and Ball State leans into its cardinal brick theme. Pristine by all accounts.
Campus bells chime at noon, ushering in a very collegiate feel on your walk up back through campus.
Parking is free many places on campus (so long as it’s not marked otherwise). The athletics website suggests parking in Lot C1 or G2N next to the Cardinal tennis courts and near Worthen Arena. I found this to be difficult to egress from, as the main street (Bethel) is shut down heading in the direction of i-69.
If you don’t mind walking, I would find a lot further south in campus and leave away from the stadium — there appeared to be way less traffic.
Pregame in Muncie
Downtown Muncie isn’t overly accessible on foot unless you’re looking to log 20,000+ steps. There’s a handful of bars and breweries that came recommended over that way and, if you’re staying further east than campus, downtown is likely a great postgame hangout spot.
Finishing your walk south through campus puts you in great position to grab a bite to eat or a coffee from a handful of shops clustered right off campus. It’s not downtown —that’s about two miles east across the White River—but there’s an area with a few restaurants available right next to the student center. Since I stayed within walking distance of campus and the stadium, this is where I went to for pregame.
I’d strongly recommend Roots Burger Bar. It’s the most convenient place to campus and had some really tasty smash-style burgers and tater tots served with honey mustard. It can get busy, but if you’re there early (or can sit at the bar top), it’s very accessible.
Perhaps it received a homecoming boost (although anecdotes online suggest maybe not!), Ball State has some of the strongest tailgating I’ve seen in the MAC. Tents sprawl the entire parking lot of Sheumann Stadium, across the street, and for dozens of acres farther back. Students, families, frats, you name it — Cardinal fans came to party. If you blindfolded me and dropped me in the middle of the tailgating sea, I’d have assumed it were Louisville before Ball State. This is where you need to be for the pregame, as it’s accessible to Scheumann Stadium and all the other pregame festivities.
Avoid driving down Bethel Ave at all costs. The Ball State website suggests to avoid it due to congestion, but it was worse than I could have expected. Cars were stopped for miles trying to get into the tailgating lots three hours before kickoff. Arrive earlier than that, or find somewhere else to park. It’s a disaster.
Students exited vehicles, 30-racks in hand, and walked to their tailgating destinations rather than wait in the car.
Chirping Through The Decades: 100th Anniversary of Homecoming
Ball State was celebrating its 100th Anniversary of Homecoming this weekend. In fact, the homecoming game took place 100 years to the day of its first homecoming football game in 1926. The weekend featured bed races, on-campus events, and a homecoming parade (which I missed as call time was 9:00 a.m.).
There was a terrific showing out. Alumni of the 1996 and 1976 MAC Champion teams, cheer squads, fraternities, teachers college, and dozens of other organizations packed tents and CharlieTown. Ball State hosted a pregame pep rally featuring athletic director Jeff Mitchell, head baseball coach Rich Maloney, and others. The cheer squad and Pride of Mid-America Marching Band made their rounds through the sea of cardinal tents.
Arrive early for the Cardinal Walk, located down the center of CharlieTown (southwest of the stadium by Gate 4) 2 hours and 15 minutes before kickoff. Stick around the area for the pep rally held an hour before kickoff.
Protect the Nest: Ball State Football Traditions
Perhaps you’re familiar with Ball State’s rally cry, Chirp Chirp. It embodies the silliness of college football (and the MAC in particular), but it’s really embraced by the fans. You’ll find students being told to “Start Chirping” on third downs, see shirts everywhere with Chirp Chirp inscribed on them, and even a slow clap-style Chirp Chirp chant from the band and students with Ball State’s hand signal (squeeze your index finger and thumb, then let your other three fingers go up).
Ball State is also proud to be Indiana’s lone MAC representative. As the Pride of Mid-America takes the field pregame, they play through America the Beautiful and Back Home In Indiana before the national anthem. Scheumann Stadium’s PA Announcer even introduces Ball State as Indiana’s only MAC team before the band organizes into the state outline for the song.
Under the home stands of The Scheu are several interactive things to do for Cardinal fans. Ball State lays out CHIRP CHIRP letters where fans stand in as the “i”, a selfie wall with Ball State backdrop, and promotional tables with buttons (this week’s being especially desirable given the nature of the Ball State-Sac State showdown).
Once kickoff starts, traditions are fairly limited. The Scheu allows the band to dictate the atmosphere (a good thing! opposed to other stadiums who play licensed music through a DJ too much) and the student section sets the tone.
If you’re looking to get concessions, prepare to be there for awhile. There’s a limited number of stands (and no kiosks!) in Scheumann Stadium, making lines painfully long. Perhaps not an issue on Tuesday night MACtion, but this did become a time-consuming process for most on a busy Saturday.
Ball State 34, Sacramento State 17
Somehow, I’ve managed to catch Sacramento State in two of its first eight games as a member of the FBS. As soon as this matchup was announced and the internet took interest in the Ball-Sac rivalry, I knew I had to be there.
Sacramento State wasn’t ready for a jump to the FBS. Though it had been planning since its more competitive FCS days, obstacles delayed the jump and the program took one of the worst financial deals I’ve ever seen to shoehorn its way into Division I-A. On top of paying millions out of pocket, covering travel for both itself and opponents, and forfeiting TV revenue for five years; the Hornets are bad. They show up weekly for wallopings, oftentimes thousands of miles from home. The weeks prior, Sac State lost a combined 121-23 to UMass, Bowling Green, and Ohio.
This afternoon started different, as Sac State held 3-0 and 10-7 leads thanks to physical play on both sides. But Ball State QB Keldric Luster (who stands 5-foot-10 and 250 pounds) blew the game wide open with a few explosive plays before the half. A Ball State strip sack with just 34 seconds left in the half led to another Cardinal touchdown and 20 unanswered points.
Sacramento State just could recover.
Ball State sat on the lead until time milked away and the Cardinals celebrated their 61st win on homecoming day in front of the largest Scheu crowd since 2024.
Later on, I’m going to talk about limited fan support and what Scheumann Stadium’s capacity looked like last year and this year. These write-ups are meant to highlight the good you can find on game day, but they’re also about transparency and honesty.
Ball State football games cost WAY too much money. For this game, general admission seats in the away stands went for $32… $32! Reserved seats on the home side started at $42. Midweek MACtion games cut down to $13, but a family of four would be in for over $150 in just ticket costs once fees settle to go to a Ball State game. If you want to park near the stadium, options sponsored by the school start at $20.
Instead of being an accessible and affordable outing for a city with limited entertainment options, Ball State football is an expensive decision to make. It’s a growing trend across college football, but this is confounding and almost certainly a major factor contributing to spotty-poor attendance.
Ball State Game Day Picks
- Best pregame meal spot: Roots Burger Bar. Nothing is more convenient to campus and it’s a great spot for a burger and beer. Tater tots are served with honey mustard by default.
- In-stadium beer: I’m a sucker for athletics-partnered brews. Ball State bucks the trend of repackaged light domestic lagers and opts for Charlie Cream Ale — a bold choice that’s really refreshing. So far, only a few schools offer non-lagers (like UConn’s multiple hazy IPAs). Worth it at a reasonable $9 a pint.
- Top game day tip: Get there early and plan your entrance and egress carefully. Bethel Ave. is a certified disaster and acts better as a parking lot on your way in. On your way out, it’s closed in the direction of the interstate. Park further south into campus and find a route that parallels Bethel to get out more efficiently or you’ll be sitting in long lines of nonmoving traffic.
- Under-the-radar: Campus. Perhaps a cop-out answer, but don’t skip it. Ball State may not nationally be known for its beautiful grounds, but it should be in the same conversation with Miami (OH) and Ohio U. Especially as the colors pop, it’s one of the most beautiful walks I’ve taken during this tour.
Ball State Game Day Grades
Stadium: C-. For the average fan, the best parts of the stadium are hidden (the Kozel Media Center is top-notch). There’s no bad seats in the house and some vantage points get you really close to the action—field-level walkway on the home side, another near-field level walkway in the south end zone—and the stadium is clean. The away stands have gaps and are closer to high school quality and the lack of concession options takes this down a notch. To summarize, it’s a perfectly good place to watch MACtion.
Tradition: C+. The Pride of Mid-America Band and real lean into the state of Indiana are nice touches. I like that the fans and student body really have adopted Chirp Chirp into just about everything. Participation in the Cardinal Out was so strong that I stood out on the sidelines wearing black. There’s not a ton else that stands out if you remove the homecoming festivities (and all the hype around the Ball-Sac game).
Atmosphere: C. You couldn’t draw up a better day than the one we had for this game. Students showed out in good numbers to start the game and, thanks to an intimate stadium design, crowd pops were pretty loud. Attendance was just over 12,000 and that was the biggest Ball State crowd since 2024, so I imagine this experience fluctuates. But support for a 2-5 football team taking on a 1-6 one was solid and the vibes in the stadium are good. Bonus points for Ball State letting the band be the atmosphere.
Tailgating: B. If it’s not the MAC’s best overall tailgating scene, then it’s certainly the MAC’s most underrated one. Droves of students, fans, and alumni made for a sea of cardinal and grill smoke. This is perhaps the aspect I was the most impressed with. From talking to Ball State fans and from online anecdotes, this isn’t an abnormal showing for homecoming and beautiful weather (though that helps) — Ball State just has a great tailgating scene.
Fans: D. The individuals of Muncie were kind and respectful. There’s certainly some diehard Ball State fans around and turnout was great. But these were under ideal conditions. Last year, Ball State filled the Scheu less than 40% all season, inside the bottom-10 nationally. About 80% of the students filed out at halftime and many of the fans in the home stands did, too. Support was there at first but quickly waned despite their team playing winning football.
Extracurriculars: D. There’s just not much around. I’m not sure Muncie is considered a premier college town and it’s disappointing that most of the eateries and drinkeries are located so far from campus. Muncie is a much bigger city than I anticipated, but there’s just not much to do. Indianapolis is the closest city 80 minutes away and Cincinnati is two hours. Aside from what Muncie itself has to offer (limited), Ball State sits in a void of extracurricular options.
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