Ball State Cardinals

Mid-American · Muncie, IN

As ofWeek 6
Rank#134
Rating1369.05
Vs preseason-16.24

2026 weekly history

Rank and rating after each published week. New rows appear automatically as weekly snapshots are published.

Preseason1371385.290.00—
Week 11341380.60-4.69-4.69
Week 21351386.80+1.51+6.20
Week 31381366.39-18.90-20.41
Week 41371360.53-24.76-5.86
Week 51351364.31-20.98+3.78
Week 61341369.05-16.24+4.74

Why this preseason rating?

Every team starts at 1500 (national average), then gains or loses points from four measurable categories. See how the formula works →

1500.00
-69.51
-18.89
-16.05
-10.26
1385.29

Underlying data

Raw inputs from CFDB used to build the preseason rating. Each metric is standardized nationally before contributing to the score. Read the full methodology →

Prior strength (2025)

1010
-19.1
-23

Roster quality (2026)

563.88
170.02

Returning production

17.3%

Transfer portal

24 (avg 0.834)
10 (avg 0.844)
+14.00

Game-by-game audit

Each completed game updates this team's rating using opponent strength, home-field advantage, and how the result compared to expectation. For every game below you can see the rating at kickoff, the opponent's rating, the model's expected margin, the actual scoreboard margin, the gap between those two, and the exact rating points gained or lost. Ratings and game-audit tables for each published week are linked above that week's results.

vs Ohio State — 3-56away
Poll rank before
#136
Rating before
1385.29
Opponent rating
1674.92
Expected margin
-47.35
Actual margin
-53.00
vs expectation
-5.65
Rating change
-4.70
Poll rank after
#134
vs Stony Brook — 41-17home
Poll rank before
#135
Rating before
1380.60
Opponent rating
1295.88
Expected margin
+16.53
Actual margin
+24.00
vs expectation
+7.47
Rating change
+6.21
Poll rank after
#135
vs Liberty — 15-51away
Poll rank before
#133
Rating before
1386.80
Opponent rating
1437.64
Expected margin
-11.44
Actual margin
-36.00
vs expectation
-24.56
Rating change
-20.42
Poll rank after
#138
vs Kent State — 13-26away
Poll rank before
#138
Rating before
1366.39
Opponent rating
1380.71
Expected margin
-5.94
Actual margin
-13.00
vs expectation
-7.06
Rating change
-5.86
Poll rank after
#137
vs Toledo — 24-39home
Poll rank before
#136
Rating before
1360.53
Opponent rating
1515.75
Expected margin
-19.56
Actual margin
-15.00
vs expectation
+4.56
Rating change
+3.79
Poll rank after
#135
vs Northwestern — 14-45away
Poll rank before
#134
Rating before
1364.31
Opponent rating
1583.14
Expected margin
-36.70
Actual margin
-31.00
vs expectation
+5.70
Rating change
+4.74
Poll rank after
#134