Ball State didn't make it to the NCAA Tournament this season. Here's how every team in this year's field has a connection to Ball State, whether it's through athletics or academics.
Midwest Region
No. 1 Louisville - Ball State women’s volleyball fell 3-0 to Louisville in the first round of the 2012 NCAA Tournament.
No. 16 North Carolina A&T - On Dec. 31, 2010, men’s basketball defeated a visiting North Carolina A&T team 80-68.
No. 16 Liberty - Football suffered a 27-23 home loss to Liberty on Sept. 14, 2010, dropping the team to 1-1 on the season.
No. 8 Colorado State - Biology technical assistant Susan Calvin earned a BS in Microbiology from Colorado State in 1980.
No. 9 Missouri - Missouri head athletic trainer Rex Sharp is a 1979 magna cum alude graduate of Ball State.
No. 5 Oklahoma State - Assistant professor of accounting Li Sun received his doctorate degree from Oklahoma State.
No. 12 Oregon - Before coming to Ball State, former quarterback Kelly Page had originally committed to play for Oregon.
No. 4 Saint Louis - Former Saint Louis coach Rick Majerus, who died in December, coached at Ball State from 1987-89.
No. 13. New Mexico State - Assistant athletic trainer Sindra Schueler received her master’s degree from New Mexico State in 2012.
No. 6 Memphis - Memphis assistant football coach Charlie Coe had a brief coaching stint at Ball State in 1982.
No. 11 Middle Tennessee State - Ball State football is scheduled to play a home game against Middle Tennessee State in 2015.
No. 11 Saint Mary’s - Women’s basketball traveled to Saint Mary’s to play a nonconference game in 2005.
No. 3 Michigan State - Women’s tennis coach Christine Bader played her collegiate tennis at Michigan State.
No. 14 Valparaiso - Men’s basketball suffered a 69-52 road loss to Valparaiso on Dec. 28, 2010.
No. 7 Creighton - Creighton’s women’s volleyball team swept Ball State on Sept. 7, 2012.
No. 10 Cincinnati - Associate head coach for Cincinnati’s men’s basketball Larry Davis had a coaching stint at Ball State in 1993-94.
No. 2 Duke - Professor of political science Sally Jo Vasicko received her Ph.D. from Duke.
No. 15 Albany - Football coach Pete Lembo received his master’s degree from Albany in 1994.
South Region
No. 1 Kansas - Softball suffered an 8-7 loss to Kansas on March 9.
No. 16 Western Kentucky - In 2011, Ball State and Western Kentucky were the only two bowl eligible teams to not play in a bowl game.
No. 8 North Carolina - Former Ball State athletic director Bubba Cunningham holds the same position at North Carolina.
No. 9 Villanova - Assistant professor of philosophy Kevin Harrelson earned his undergraduate degree from Villanova in 1998.
No. 5 VCU - Assistant professor of theatre Jonathan Becker received his master’s of fine arts from VCU.
No. 12 Akron - Men’s basketball suffered a 71-64 road loss to conference opponent Akron on Jan. 16.
No. 4 Michigan - Michigan football coach Brady Hoke coached at Ball State from 2003-08, leading the team to two bowl games.
No. 13 South Dakota State - South Dakota State Department Head of Journalism and Communications Mary Arnold was once a journalism professor at Ball State.
No. 6 UCLA - Ball State men’s volleyball suffered a 3-1 loss to UCLA on Jan. 14, 2011.
No. 11 Minnesota - Women’s basketball has been selected to play against Minnesota in the 2013 WNIT.
No. 3 Florida - Ball State outside linebackers coach Daryl Dixon was a team captain for Florida’s football team.
No. 14 Northwestern State - Former women’s volleyball coach Hugh Hernesman is the co-head coach of the Northwestern State volleyball team.
No. 7 San Diego State - San Diego State associate athletic director Bob Moosbrugger was a graduate assistant at Ball State from 1994-96.
No. 10 Oklahoma - On Oct. 1, 2011, Ball State football lost 62-6 to then-No. 1 Oklahoma.
No. 2 Georgetown - Former men’s basketball coach Ronny Thompson is the brother of Georgetown coach John Thompson III.
No. 15 Florida Gulf Coast - Florida Gulf Coast associate professor of education Lynn Wilder earned her doctoral degree from Ball State in 1999.
West Region
No. 1 Gonzaga - Gonzaga director of counseling education Steven Koffman received his doctoral degree from Ball State in 1998.
No. 16 Southern - Ball State and Southern’s athletic departments are both clients of Advanced-Online for its online store.
No. 8 Pittsburgh - Women’s volleyball swept Pittsburgh 3-0 at Worthen Arena on Sept. 14, 2012.
No. 9 Wichita State - Wichita State assistant athletic trainer Becca Fitzgerald received her master’s degree from Ball State in 2012.
No. 5 Wisconsin - Men’s volleyball player Jamion Hartley was once recruited to play basketball at Wisconsin.
No. 12 Ole Miss - Women’s golf coach Katherine Mowat was an assistant coach at Ole Miss from 2001-04.
No. 4 Kansas State - Former football coach Stan Parrish had 2-30-1 record as coach at Kansas State from 1986-88.
No. 13 Boise State - Men’s tennis lost 5-1 to Boise State in the Spring Break Classic on March 23, 2012.
No. 13 La Salle - La Salle graduate program director of communications Michael Smith once taught classes at Ball State.
No. 6 Arizona - Men’s basketball opened its 2011-12 season with a road 73-63 loss to Arizona.
No. 11 Belmont - Belmont assistant professor of music business Timothy Tappan received his bachelor’s degree from Ball State.
No. 3 New Mexico - New Mexico women’s volleyball coach Jeff Nelson played on the 1995 Ball State volleyball team that reached the Final Four.
No. 14 Harvard - Ball State baseball posted a 10-2 win over Harvard on March 10.
No. 7 Notre Dame - Athletic director Bill Scholl worked at Notre Dame from 1989-2012 before coming to Ball State.
No. 10 Iowa State - Ball State provost and vice president Terry King was once a professor at Iowa State.
No. 2 Ohio State - Ohio State baseball coach Greg Beals coached at Ball State for eight seasons, going 243-202 in that time.
No. 15 Iona - Ball State cross country competed at the Meet of Champions hosted by Iona in 2002.
East Region
No. 1 Indiana - Men’s basketball lost to then-No. 1 Indiana 101-53 on Nov. 25 at Assembly Hall.
No. 16 LIU Brooklyn - Softball defeated LIU Brooklyn 8-1 in the Citrus Classic on March 5, 2012.
No. 16 James Madison - Assistant professor of music education Ann Wolfe received her graduate degree from James Madison.
No. 8 N.C. State - N.C. State tight ends coach Eddie Faulkner was an assistant coach at Ball State from 2003-10.
No. 9 Temple - From 2007-12, Temple was a member of the Mid-American Conference for football and beat Ball State 42-0 on Oct. 8, 2011.
No. 5 UNLV - UNLV professor Tony Lucas received his bachelor’s degree in accounting from Ball State in 1986.
No. 12 California - Cari DuBois, the longest tenured gymnastics coach in California history, graduated from Ball State.
No. 4 Syracause - Ball State’s basketball and football play-by-play commentator graduated from Syracuse in 2009.
No. 13 Montana - Women’s golf competed in the Western Michigan Invitational on March 9 with a field that included of Montana.
No. 6 Butler - Each season Ball State and Butler’s men’s basketball teams play, the most recent a 67-53 win for Butler.
No. 11 Bucknell - Ball State field hockey suffered a 4-2 loss to Bucknell on Oct. 29, 2009.
No. 3 Marquette - Women’s tennis lost on the road to Marquette 5-2 on Feb. 17.
No. 14 Davidson - In men’s golf’s win in the Firestone Invitational in 2012, Ball State beat a field that included Davidson.
No. 7 Illinois - Illinois professor of human development Brent McBride received his bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Ball State.
No. 10 Colorado - Director of the Human Performance Laboratory Scott Trappe received his master’s degree from Colorado in 1991.
No. 2 Miami - Executive director of alumni programs Julie Stroh once had the same position at Miami before being hired in 2012.
No. 15 Pacific - Women’s volleyball pulled off an upset of then-No. 8 Pacific on Sept. 9, 1995.
