The Cardinals own an all-time Mid American Conference Tournament record of 34-15 with seven tournament championships and eight tourney Most Valuable Players. Those totals are the most of any team in the league.

1980-1981 - Ball State finished the season at 20-10 and Mid-American Conference regular-season champs. The Cardinals defeated Northern Illinois 79-66 in the MAC Championship game. Ray McCallum led the Cardinals with 24 points in the final. On the season McCallum, then a sophomore, scored 18.4 points a game. Ball State advanced to its first-ever NCAA Tournament behind the leadership of McCallum, forward Al Gooden and swingman John Williams. The Cardinals played Boston College in the first round at Tuscaloosa, Ala. The Eagles defeated the Cardinals 93-90. McCallum led all scorers with 26 points. Boston College was led by future Cleveland Cavaliers point guard John Bagley who scored 19.

1981-1982 - Ball State finished the season with a 17-11 record, finishing first in the Mid-American Conference regular-season. The Cardinals lost in the MAC final 79-75 in OT to Northern Illinois. Ball State was led by junior Ray McCallum who scored 17.6 points a game. C.C. Fullove averaged 13.7 points a game and John Williams added 11 points a game to help lead the Cardinals.

1982-1983 - Ball State finished the season with a 17-12 record. The Cardinals dropped to third in the MAC standings and lost in the Mid-American Conference tournament second round. Ray McCallum again led the Cardinals with 20.7 points a game, finishing his career as the school's and MAC's all-time leading scorer with 2,109 points. Jon Mansbury added 14.9 points a game and David Scott added 13.3 points for the Cardinals.

1983-1984 - The Cardinals fell to 8-19 on the season. The finished ninth out of 10 teams in the MAC. Only Western Michigan had a worse record at 2-16. The Cardinals were led by Jeff Furlin and Marcus Lacey with 10.6 and 10.2 points a game respectively. Rick Rowray added 9.8 points to the Cardinals cause.

1984-1985 - Ball State rebounded slightly with a 13-16 record. The Cardinals finished in the middle of the MAC pack at 8-10. The Cardinals ended the season with a loss in the second round of the MAC Tournament to Miami, 91-70. Junior Dan Palombizio who scored 26.3 points a game and 11 rebounds led the Cardinals. Chris Shelton chipped in with 10.3 points a game.

1985-1986 - Ball State finishes the season at 21-10 and third place in the MAC. The Cardinals got on a roll and won the MAC Tournament beating Miami, 87-79. Dan Palombizio was named first team all-MAC leading the team with 20.2 points. Chris Shelton added 13.9 points and Larry Reed had 12.7 for the Cards. Ball State advances to the NCAA Tournament and played 12th ranked Memphis State in Baton Rouge, La. The Tigers crushed the Cardinals 95-63. Palombizio scored 17 points to lead the Cardinals. Future NBA journeyman Vincent Askew led Memphis State with 23 points.

1986-1987 - Ball State fell back to 9-18 on the season. The Cardinals finished last in the MAC with a 4-12 record. Charles Smith and Derrick Wesley led Ball State. Smith scored 21.2 points a game and Wesley had 20.7 a game. Freshman Greg Miller, of Yorktown, scored 3 points a game for the Cardinals. After the season Ball State fired head coach Al Brown.

1987-1988 - A new era, a new head coach. Former Marquette head coach Rick Majerus was named head coach. The Cardinals went 14-14 and 8-8 in the MAC. Derrick Wesley was named all-MAC after scoring 20.6 points a game. Greg Miller, the team's most improved player, scored 12.5 points a game. Ball State ended the season with a first-round loss in the MAC Tournament, 80-79, to Western Michigan. After the season Ball State got Arkansas-Little Rock transfers Paris McCurdy and Curtis Kidd.

1988-1989 - Ball State finished the season with a 29-3 record. The Cardinals steam-rolled through the MAC finishing at 14-2. Ball State beat Kent, 67-65, in the MAC Tournament final to advance to the NCAA Tournament. Ball State wins its first-ever NCAA Tournament game beating Pittsburgh 68-64. McCurdy had 18 points and Kidd added 15. The Cardinals would lose in the second round to Illinois 72-60. Ball State was led by Kidd's 16 points and McCurdy's 15. Future NBA players Nick Anderson and Kendall Gill led Illinois. Anderson had 24 points and Gill 17. Curtis Kidd, Billy Butts (a Muncie North product), Paris McCurdy and Greg Miller led Ball State's balanced scoring attack. Kidd scored 14 points a game, Butts had 11.8 points, McCurdy 11.7 points and Miller 9.2.

1989-1990 - The greatest season in Cardinal Hoops history. Ball State finished the season 26-7 and 13-3 in the MAC led by first-year head coach Dick Hunsaker. Ball State won the MAC Tournament crown beating Central Michigan 78-56 in the final. Ball State advanced to the NCAA Tournament as a 12th seed. The Cardinals upset No. 4 seed Oregon State 54-53 in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Cardinals triumph on a last-second shot by senior forward Paris McCurdy. Super sophomore Chandler Thompson (of Muncie Central) led BSU with 24 points. The Cardinals defense led by Scott Nichols and McCurdy shut down high-scoring Gary Payton. The NCAA Player of the Year fouled out with 5 minutes to go having scored only 11 points. In the second round, the Cardinals continued their Cinderella Run with a 62-60 victory over No. 4 seed Louisville. Ball State was again led by Thompson who scored 15 points including a thunderous dunk on Louisville's LaBradford Smith. Billy Butts also scored 15 points. Felton Spencer's 14 points and 12 rebounds led Louisville. The Cardinals made their first-ever Sweet 16 appearance a memorable one with a near upset of No. 1 UNLV, the eventual national champions. Ball State lost the game 69-67 which was the closest anyone came to defeating the Running Rebels in that season. Ball State was led by Thompson's 21 points and highlight reel dunks and McCurdy added 17. Future NBA stars Larry Johnson and Stacey Augmon led UNLV with 20 points each. McCurdy (right) and guard Chandler Thompson (left) led the Cardinals throughout the season and into the NCAA tournament.

1990-1991 - The Cardinals finished the season at 21-10, but lost in the MAC Tournament to Toledo, 62-61. The Cardinals were led by Emanuel Cross and Chandler Thompson with 15.6 and 15.4 points a game respectively. The Cardinals lost to Cincinnati in the NIT first round, 82-55. Ball State was led by Chandler Thompson's 16 and Emanuel Cross's 12. UC was led by Lou Banks 19.

1991-1992 - The Cardinals moved into the newly built University arena. Ball State finished the season at 24-9. The Cardinals were 11-5 in the MAC. Ball State was led by Keith Stallings 13.2 points a game. Chandler Thompson added 11.2 points. Ball State lost in the MAC final to Miami, 58-57. Ball State lost in the NIT first round to former head coach Rick Majerus's Utah Utes, 72-57. Bill Gillis led the Cardinals with 22 points. Byron Wilson led the Utes with 15 points.

1992-1993 - Ball State finished at 26-8 and were first place finishers in the MAC. The Cardinals won the MAC Tournament 79-64 over Western Michigan. BSU was led by Jeermal Sylvester's 14.1 points a game. Steve "House of" Payne added 12.4 points and 9.9 rebounds a game. The Cardinals made it to the Big Dance again and lost in the first round the Kansas JayHawks, 94-72. Ball State by Sylvester and Jamie Matthews with 18. Future NBA journeyman Rex Walters led Kansas with 23 points.

1993-1994 - Amidst allegations that he provided extra benefits to non-qualifying (prop 48) athletes, Dick Hunsaker resigned just weeks prior to the beginning of the 1993-1994 season. Former Cardinal great Ray McCallum was hired to replace Hunsaker. Ball State finished 16-12 and fourth place in the MAC with a respectable 11-7 record. The Cardinals were led by Steve Payne's 20.5 points and 11 rebounds a game. Jeermal Sylvester added 16.6 points a game. The Cards lost to Ohio, 79-70, in the MAC Final.

1994-1995 - The Cardinals finished the year with a 19-11 record and an 11-7 record in the MAC. The Cardinals caught fire and won the MAC Tournament beating Eastern Michigan, 79-70 in the Final. Ball State was led by senior Steve Payne, Marcus Norris and freshman sensation Bonzi Wells (from Muncie Central). Payne averaged 17.3 points and 9.4 rebounds a game. Wells had 15.8 points a game and Norris chipped in with 15. Ball State made its sixth appearance in the Big Dance. The Cardinals lost in the first round to the NCAA Tournament to Arizona State 81-66. Ball State was led by Bonzi Wells 16 points. Ron Riley's 24 points led Arizona State. Wells was named MAC freshman of the year.

1995-1996 - Ball State finished with a 16-12 record. Ball State finished fourth in the MAC with an 11-7 record. Bonzi Wells scored 25.4 points and 8.8 rebounds a game including seven games of 30 points or more. LaSalle Thompson chipped in 12.1 points a game. Ball State lost to Eastern Michigan in the second round of the MAC Tournament, 87-71. Marcus Mason was named MAC Freshman of the year.

1996-1997 - Ball State finished the season 16-13 and 9-9 in the MAC. Bonzi Wells led Ball State again with 20 a game. Freshman Duane Clemens (a Muncie South product) chipped in with 9.9 points a game. Ball State's season ended with a first round loss to Eastern Michigan, 85-75, in the MAC Tournament. Ball State did defeat the Big Ten's Wisconsin Badgers, 74-59, behind Well's 19 points.

1997-1998 - Ball State senior forward Bonzi Wells broke the Mid-American Conference career scoring record. Wells broke Ron Harper's record of 2,377 points on a one-handed dunk against Northern Illinois on February 21st. The dunk sent the sell-out crowd at University Arena into frenzy. A timeout was immediately called and Wells was awarded the game ball by Ball State president John Worthen.

"It's big for me," Wells said, "I never thought coming from a small town, that I'd be able to break a record like I have. It was tremendous for me, and it was a lot to take in."

Wells ended his career at Ball State with 2,485 points. He also led the conference in steals in 1998 with 73, averaging 3.55 steals in 29 games. Wells led the conference in steals during all four years at Ball State. For his career Wells had a total of 347 steals.

The Cardinals finished the year 21-8 and a 14-4 first place finish in the MAC West. Ball State lost in the semifinal of the MAC Tournament in a controversial 93-92 OT decision to an Earl Boykins led Eastern Michigan team. The Cardinals were also snubbed by the NCAA who opted for Western Michigan whom the Cardinals had beaten twice that season and had lost in the first round of the MAC Tournament. Wells, Lamont Roland and Duane Clemens led Ball State. Roland had 12.1 points and Clemens 10.6 points. Ball State lost in the first round of the NIT to Memphis, 90-67. Clemens and Mitch Hankins led the Cardinals with 10 points and a flu-ridden Wells chipped in nine. Keldrick Bradford led Memphis with 27. The highlight of the season was a shocking 72-70 upset of 12 ranked Mississippi in the CVC Classic at BSU. After the season, Bonzi Wells, a third-team all-American, was drafted by the Detroit Pistons with the 11th pick, later Wells was traded to the Portland TrailBlazers.

1998-1999 - Ball State finished the season 15-11 and 10-8 in the MAC. The Cardinals were led by junior guard Duane Clemens's 16.3 points a game. Marcus Mason chipped in 9.4. Ball State lost in the MAC Tournament first round, 69-43, to a Wally Szczerbiak-led Miami RedHawks team. The young, talent-laden Cardinals defeated Big Ten power Michigan, 75-64 in the first game of the season and gave Indiana University fits in losing 72-62 in the Hoosier Classic at Market Square Arena.

1999-2000 - Ball State finished the season 22-9 and were 11-7 in the MAC West champions. Ball State began the season with a loss to eventual Final Four participant Wisconsin. Ball State defeated Purdue 72-52 in the first collegiate game in Conseco Fieldhouse. Ball State also defeated NCAA Tournament bound Butler and Indiana State. The Cardinals set a school-record for three-point field goals made behind the sharp shooting of Duane Clemens, Mickey Hosier, Shane Franks, Cedric Moodie, Tee Smith and Petie Jackson. Ball State set a national record by playing back-to-back triple-OT games. Ball State ran off an impressive 10 consecutive victory string and made several appearances in the college basketball polls. Ball State won the MAC Tournament with a 61-58 victory over Miami. Clemens led the Cardinals with 18.7 points a game. Clemens finished his Cardinal career as the sixth all-time leading scorer and second all-time in steals. Freshman Theron Smith chipped in 12.2 points a game and 7.7 rebounds and was named MAC Freshman of the Year. Ball State made its first trip back to the NCAA Tournament in 5 long years. The Cardinals played in Minneapolis, Minn. against UCLA. The Cardinals lost to the bigger Bruins. Clemens who scored 16 points and set a NCAA Tournament record with 8 steals led Ball State. Moodie chipped in 15 points. Ball State led at the half 26-22.

At the season's end Cardinal head coach Ray McCallum (7th season at BSU) announces he will take the head coaching position at the University of Houston. McCallum leaves Ball State as the school's second all-time winningest coach with 126 wins and 76 losses (.624), he trailed only Jim Hinga who had 154 wins and 169 losses (.477). McCallum was the only player in Ball State athletic history to have his number (10) retired.

On May 17th Marquette assistant coach Tim Buckley was hired as the new head coach at Ball State. Buckley was previously an assistant coach under current University of Houston head coach Ray McCallum.

2000-2001 - In Coach Buckley's first year, Ball State recorded its 13-th straight winning season, winning 18 games versus 12 losses (11-7 in MAC play, West division 3rd place). Patrick Jackson started all 30 games and led the team in assists, steals and minutes played, while ranking second on the squad with a 13.9 points per game scoring average. Jackson was paired up in the backcourt with Delta high school teammate Billy Lynch who joined the basketball team as a walk-on after playing on the Cardinals football team. Billy played in 29 games and managed a 2.5-to-1.0 assist-to-turnover ratio, which ranked second in the MAC.

Theron Smith was an All-MAC Second-Team choice after leading Ball State with a 16.3 points per game and 8.1 rebounds per game. Smith scored in double figures in 27 games, including a career-high and Indiana Classic Tournament record 40 points vs. Texas Tech. Smith scored 489 points, which marked the third-best sophomore scoring season in Ball State history.

2001-2002 - The Cardinals won the school's first ever outright MAC West Division Championship in 2002. After bowing out of the MAC tourney with a loss to Bowling Green, Ball State accepted a bid to the NIT. Ball State defeated South Florida at Worthern Arena in the first game then the Cardinals played road NIT games at St. Joseph's and Louisiana State. The win over LSU moved the Cardinals into the NIT Elite Eight and another road game at South Carolina. The Gamecocks ended the Ball State season March 21 after the longest postseason run in BSU history. The Cardinals ended at 23-12 overall and 12-6 MAC.

Early in the season Ball State turned the Maui Invitational on it's ear when the Cards defeated Kansas and UCLA, which were ranked No. 3 and No. 4 at the time. Ball State lost to No. 1 ranked Duke in the Maui Championship game. The wins over Kansas and UCLA in Maui mark the highest ranked teams a BSU team ever defeated. Kansas ended the regular season 27-2 and ranked first in the country in both the AP and ESPN/USA Today Poll.

After the Maui victories, Ball State was ranked for four straight weeks (Nov. 26 through Dec. 17) in the top-25 of the AP and ESPN/USA Today Poll, and received votes each week in the ESPN/USA Today Poll until Feb. 4. Ball State was ranked 15th in the AP Poll Dec. 3, which marked the highest ranking in school history.

Theron Smith led the Cardinals with 19.6 points and 10.9 rebounds per game. Theron finished the season ranked seventh all-time on Ball State's scoring list with 1,553 points and forth all-time with 862 career rebounds. His 23 double-doubles ranked second in the nation for the year. He was named player of the week three times during the season and was named all-MAC first team at the season's conclusion.

Patrick Jackson was named the 2001-02 team's Co-Most Valuable Player with Theron Smith. Jackson was second for the Cardinals in scoring (16.6 ppg) and led the team in assists (118) and steals (47). He completed his career as BSU's all-time three-point leader with 202 baskets.

Lonnie Jones finished his career after the 2001-2002 campaign with the all-time Ball State blocked shot record. Lonnie blocked 301 shots during his four years. He also holds four out of the top five records for most blocks in a season. The next best career shot blocker in Ball State history has 131 (Randy Boarden 1975-79).

Ball State made 310 three-point field goals in 2001-2002, which sets the BSU and Mid-American Conference single season records.

2002-2003 - Ball State suffered its first loosing season in 14 years after MAC player of the year candidate Theron Smith and shooting guard Rob Robbins were lost for the season with injuries sustained in the first month of play. The Cardinals finished 13-17 overall and 8-10 in MAC play (tied for 4th in MAC West)

Senior guard Chris Williams was the team's leading scorer at 24.5 points per game. Chris Williams finished with 736 points to rank second all time for most points scored in a season. Williams' two-year career point total was 1,291 points to rank 12th in school history. Williams set the Ball State single-game scoring record with his 48-point performance at Akron Jan. 4. He surpassed the 47-point effort of Larry Bullington that stood for 29 years.

Junior college transfer 6-8 Cameron Echols averaged 13.1 points and ranked fifth in the Mid-American Conference in rebounding at 8.7 per game. Sophomore guard Matt McCollom contributed 11.9 points per game.

Theron Smith declared himself eligible for the NBA draft after the season concluded and signed a free agent contract with the Memphis Grizzlies.

2003-2004 - In a rebuilding year, the Cardinals showed a lot of promise for the future. The Cards finished 14-15 with tough games against Connecticut, Western Kentucky, Xavier and Detroit (bracket buster opponent). With the additions of Terrance Chapman, Dennis Trammel, Skip Mills, Peyton Stovall, Darren Yates, Jesse McClung and Lonnie Fulse (walk-on) the entire Ball State backcourt was revamped. The bigger more athletic guards were able to pressure opposing offenses. BSU ranked forth in the MAC in allowing only 69.9ppg and first in the MAC with 41.1% fg by opponents.

Ball State was led by newcomer Dennis Trammell with 13.2points and 2.9 assists per game. Seniors Cameron Echols and Robert Owens finished their careers in fine fashion averaging double figures for the year. Owens finished with 889 points and 459 boards in his 124 games (second all-time) at BSU. Peyton Stovall was named to the MAC all-freshman team after averaging30.1 minutes, 7.2 points, 3.9 assists and 1.2 steals.

Original history article was written by Andrew Thorpe and Scott Swain for their website Cardinal Talk - used with permission
Statistical data and records courtesy of the Ball State Sports Information office
Photos courtesy of Ball State Photo Services