In the Cards

For the first time in 11 years, Ball State is finally bowl eligible & that, to me, is one of the sweetest things that has happened in the world of Cardinal football for quite awhile.


Not too long ago, however, we would have been singing a drastically different tune.


Against teams like, say, Nebraska or Auburn, folks'd say that we didn't have a prayer & we blindly believed them, as the Cards fell without much fight. Even with Big 10 teams on our schedule, it would've come to the same adamant conclusion: We just couldn't win against the higher-echelon ballclubs.


If that's not enough, when it came to winning football games, we were downright laughable, even riding the nation's longest losing streak at one juncture (a good 1 1/2 years or so of futility). Then we upset Miami of Ohio in late 2000; one sensed the tide was starting to turn in our favor, that we could steer our wayward ship in the right direction. We came close to making some noise for the 2001 season; trouble was, to grab a bowl bid back then, we needed 7 victories as opposed to the current 6...were we ever close. After that, the wheels fell off our cart & it would take some time for Ball State football to make a resurgence of any kind, even once in a blue moon.

But last season, the Cards proved any doubters wrong, almost defeating Michigan & Indiana. We almost beat Nebraska this season; we put up more of a fight against Illinois & IU than some folks say we did. To be perfectly honest, it took some time for Ball State to get this far, a good decade of detours & hardships which accompanied those detours.

And here we are, having come full circle to the likelihood of playing in a bowl game. This isn't to say we have arrived; the Cardinals still have to play Northern Illinois & there's still so much work to be done. But for the moment, if you're a Ball State football fan, things are looking up & barring any letdowns during the holiday weekend one hopes they can stay that way.

Go Cardinals!!