Image via Eastern Michigan Athletics
Ball State: How’d they get here?
It’s hard to win at any MAC program, but brother, is it hard to win at Ball State. And the last time Ball State won a MAC title, people wanted to put an asterisk next to it because Ball State didn’t win a second straight title.
The last “legitimate”, I suppose, MAC title for Ball State came in 1996 when the Cardinals finished the season atop the standings with a 7-1 MAC record (8-4 overall). Only 12 years later in 2008, Ball State finished the regular season with a perfect 12-0 record to win the West division outright (8-0 MAC). This time, though, there would be a championship, and the #12-ranked Cardinals would lose in a big, 42-24 upset to Buffalo.
The next time Ball State would find its way back to Detroit? Of course, that would take another 12 years.
The Stan Parrish era, after Brady Hoke left Ball State for the San Diego State job, lasted two, forgettable years. In 2012, the only two MAC teams the Cardinals lost to were the two teams that made it to the MAC championship (By 2 at Kent State, by 10 vs. Northern Illinois). Under the weeknight MACtion lights, the Cardinals went to Toledo and upset the #23-ranked team 34-27. The next week, Ball State destroyed a good Ohio team 52-27.
In 2013, Ball State started the year 6-0 in MAC play before #20 NIU outdueled BSU 48-27 for a pivotal division-deciding game. It was the first season Ball State had at least 10 wins since 2008. It’s the most wins Ball State has had in a season since.
2011 Pete Lembo: 6-6 (4-4 MAC)
2012 Pete Lembo: 9-4 (6-2 MAC)
2013 Pete Lembo: 10-3 (7-1 MAC)
2014 Pete Lembo: 5-7 (4-4 MAC)
2015 Pete Lembo: 3-9 (2-6 MAC)
2016 Mike Neu: 4-8 (1-7 MAC)
2017 Mike Neu: 2-10 (0-8 MAC)
2018 Mike Neu: 4-8 (3-5 MAC)
2019 Mike Neu: 5-7 (4-4 MAC)
2020 Mike Neu: 7-1 (5-1 MAC)
2021 Mike Neu: 6-7 (4-4 MAC)
2022 Mike Neu: 5-7 (3-5 MAC)
2023 Mike Neu: 4-8 (3-5 MAC)
2024 Mike Neu: 3-9 (2-6 MAC)
2025 Mike Uremovich: 4-8 (3-5 MAC)
The fourth and fifth years of Lembo would see fewer wins, and mounting financial pressures for Ball State to keep up with the Joneses turned into modern, on-field disadvantages. Lembo, himself, knew how to work with limited resources, but that never made things easier on the recruiting trail. Lembo took a pay cut and left Ball State to be Maryland’s special teams coordinator after the 2015 season.
Former Cardinals quarterback Mike Neu came in to try and save his alma mater. Neu’s Cardinals won just one MAC game through his first two seasons, but there would be slight improvement with three MAC wins in 2018 and four in 2019. When the Covid-shortened 2020 season rolled around, one MAC coach would be proved right. It would be the one coach that voted for Ball State to win the MAC in the preseason poll. Ball State opened with a loss to Miami, but then it won seven games in a row, including a MAC Championship win over Lance Leipold’s Buffalo (38-28), and its first-ever bowl win over San Jose State to be the nation’s #23 team in the final ranking.
But it was an irregular, pandemic-laden year. Ball State announced that 16 of its 22 starters would be back for the 2021 season. If the 2020 season was a true championship, then Ball State would legitimize itself as a title contender by simply winning another one the next year.
Wait, what?
For Ball State’s championship to feel legitimate in everybody’s eyes, they had to win a second-straight championship?
Are we talking about Ball State or Alabama here?
There hasn’t been a seven-game win streak since, let alone a winning season. Ball State finished the 2021 regular season with a 6-6 record (4-4 MAC), and lost in its bowl game by 31 points. The team slipped to five wins the next year, then four, then just three in 2024.
Out went Neu, in to replace him was a new Mike. Mike Uremovich, who has been a head coach in the FCS ranks (St. Francis, 2005-11; Butler, 2022-24), was hired by Ball State ahead of the 2025 season. Uremovich also received his Master’s and coached at Northern Illinois on three separate occasions: as a graduate assistant (2001-03), as a running backs and special teams coach (2012), and as an offensive play-caller and assistant head coach (2016-2018).
Ball State, from the Brady Hoke days to the current iteration of Uremovich’s leadership, never got any easier. As a Covid-era project, the school finally built an indoor practice facility, only ten or so years after most other FBS schools made a similar investment.
Ball State’s always going to be tough to win at. If this program’s going to be a winner in 2026, or any year, it’s going to require a bit of randomness and a ton of surprise. It’d be one thing to guess if Ball State could win its old West division and just be better than five other teams to reach Detroit. But since divisions no longer exist, the school has to be better than at least 11 other MAC schools to reach the championship.
PLAYERS OF NOTE
QB, Keldric Luster — Luster joins Ball State after he spent his first two seasons at SMU (7 games) and then last year with Texas State (2 games). Luster, billed as a dual-threat option at quarterback, is uniquely sized at 5’10”, 248 lbs.
WR, Donovan Hamilton — Size-wise, Hamilton is every team’s dream receiver (6’4”, 217 lbs.). On an offense that had fewer passing attempts (278) than Iowa (286), Hamilton caught 20 passes for 244 yards in his first season with the Cardinals. Hamilton spent his freshman year at Purdue.
S, Sterling Smith — Incoming transfer from Purdue (2024-25), who also spent his freshman season at Holy Cross (FCS). He was a starting safety for Holy Cross, but not at Purdue. In 2023, he made 36 tackles (25 solo, 1 for loss), with 3 QB hurries and 2 pass breakups.
S, DJ Fields — A fourth-year player for Ball State and is one of two returning defenders from 2025. Last year, Fields made 34 stops (24 solo, 1 TFL) and a couple of pass breakups.
CB, Willizhuan Yates — Yates is a third-year cornerback for Ball State with 12 total starts made in 20 games played since his true freshman season. For his career, Yates has made 51 total tackles (38 solo, 2 TFL), 2 interceptions, 9 pass breakups, and 1 forced fumble.
