WACO, Texas — In 2009, the Ball State women’s basketball team shocked the women’s college basketball world with an upset over No. 5 seed Tennessee.
The Cardinals were the No. 12 seed and defeated the previous national champion 71-55. A blowout.
Ball State is currently the No. 12 seed in the 2025 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament, and it will face the No. 5 seed Ole Miss.
What if they did it again?
The Cardinals have won 16 games in the Mid-American Conference (MAC), including the regular-season and tournament championships. They have broken records, and the banners will hang soon.
Ball State has the MAC Coach of the Year, Brady Sallee, the MAC Player of the Year, Ally Becki, and the MAC Defensive Player of the Year, Marie Kiefer.
The stage is set, all Ball State has to do is dance. It is March, and that is when basketball norms go out the window.
Does it matter that Ole Miss is a double-digit favorite? Nope. Does it matter that the Rebels play in the heavily stacked Southeastern Conference (SEC)? Nope. It is March! It all goes out the window.
March Madness is one of those events where the whole nation is on alert. Checking for an upset, looking at your bracket and rooting for Cinderella stories. Ball State could be one of those stories in the long line of March legends with a win.
The Cardinals have already written their story, but the book is not closed. The records speak for themselves, but they have yet another chance to cement what the 2024-25 team means to Ball State, the community and more.
A win has the chance at unifying the Muncie community and the Ball State campus, if it hasn’t already. It’s been 16 years since the name “Ball State” was spoken on a national level in March. I was five.
It would be the first time in 16 years the Cardinals’ basketball program was national news.
It would cement Ball State, Ally Becki and Co. as not just greats, but as Cardinal immortals.
So, what if they did it again? We will see March 21 at 6 p.m. on ESPNU.
The Daily News sports section will have coverage of the game and tournament throughout the weekend. Follow along at the Ball State Daily News website or on X@dn_sports.
Contact Elijah Poe via email at elijah.poe@bsu.edu or on X @ElijahPoe4.
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