1980–81 Ball State Cardinals men's basketball team

American college basketball season

1980–81 Ball State Cardinals men's basketball

MAC Regular season co-champions MAC tournament champions
NCAA tournament
Conference	Mid-American Conference
Record	20–10 (10–6 MAC)
Head coach	Steve Yoder
Home arena	Irving Gymnasium
Seasons ← 1979–80 1981–82 →

1980–81 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Western Michigan	10	–	6	.625	15	–	13	.536
Ball State †	10	–	6	.625	20	–	10	.667
Toledo	10	–	6	.625	21	–	10	.677
Bowling Green	10	–	6	.625	15	–	12	.556
Northern Illinois	10	–	6	.625	17	–	12	.586
Eastern Michigan	8	–	8	.500	13	–	14	.481
Ohio	6	–	10	.375	7	–	20	.259
Miami	6	–	10	.375	11	–	15	.423
Central Michigan	5	–	11	.313	12	–	14	.462
Kent State	5	–	11	.313	7	–	19	.269

† 1981 MAC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

The 1980–81 Ball State Cardinals men's basketball team represented Ball State University as a member of the Mid-American Conference during the 1980–81 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Cardinals were led by head coach Steve Yoder and played their home games at Irving Gymnasium in Muncie, Indiana. After finishing in second place during the MAC regular season, Ball State won the MAC tournament to receive the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament – the first appearance in program history. As No. 12 seed in the Mideast region, the Cardinals were beaten in a very competitive game by No. 5 seed Boston College in the opening round, 93–90. The team finished with a record of 20–10 (10–6 MAC).

Roster

1980–81 Ball State Cardinals men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G		Ray McCallum	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	—	So		West Memphis, Arkansas

Head coach

Steve Yoder

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Non-conference regular season
Nov 29, 1980*		at No. 5 Indiana	L 69–75	0–1	Assembly Hall Bloomington, Indiana
Dec 9, 1980*		at Wisconsin	L 72–85	0–2	Wisconsin Field House Madison, Wisconsin
Dec 13, 1980*		Indiana State	W 76–60	1–2	Irving Gymnasium Muncie, Indiana
Dec 22, 1980*		at Bradley	L 73–106	1–3	Robertson Memorial Field House Peoria, Illinois
Dec 27, 1980*		Nebraska	W 67–62	2–3	Irving Gymnasium Muncie, Indiana
Jan 5, 1981*		at Butler	W 69–66	3–3	Hinkle Fieldhouse Indianapolis, Indiana
MAC regular season
Feb 28, 1981		at Central Michigan	L 83–84	17–9 (10–6)	Rose Arena Mount Pleasant, Michigan
MAC tournament
Mar 3, 1981*		Ohio Quarterfinals	W 85–70	18–9	Irving Gymnasium Muncie, Indiana
Mar 4, 1981*		vs. Toledo Semifinals	W 79–77	19–9	Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan
Mar 5, 1981*		vs. Northern Illinois Championship game	W 79–66	20–9	Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan
NCAA tournament
Mar 13, 1981*	(12 ME)	vs. (5 ME) Boston College First round	L 90–93	20–10	Memorial Coliseum Tuscaloosa, Alabama
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time Source^[1].

References

^ "Record Book" (PDF). Ball State University Athletics. Retrieved April 23, 2023.

v t e Ball State Cardinals men's basketball
Venues	Ball Gymnasium (1925–1963) Irving Gymnasium (1963–1992) Worthen Arena (1992–present)
Culture & lore	Charlie Cardinal
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1942–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25