BALL STATE ANNOUNCES FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

The Mid-American Conference has announced the 2013 football schedule, which is
highlighted by 13 midweek nationally televised games during the month of November by
ESPN2, ESPNU or ESPN3.  The 13 midweek games represent an increase of five national
television games from last season.

In addition, Ball State has announced its Oct. 12 game vs. Kent State will be its
2013 Homecoming contest.

Ball State will host Central Michigan Wed., Nov. 6 in an 8 p.m. game on ESPN2.  In
addition, the Cardinals will play at Northern Illinois Wed., Nov. 13, in a contest
to be televised on either ESPN2 or ESPNU.  Ball State will host Miami University
Fri., Nov. 29, in a possible ESPNU game.

"We are looking forward to a very challenging schedule in 2013, beginning with a
very talented Illinois State team coming to Scheumann Stadium to kick off the
season," Ball State head coach Pete Lembo says.  "I was impressed with how the
Redbirds handled Eastern Michigan last year and defeated Appalachian State on the
road in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs."

For the sixth year in a row, league schools will face a formidable non-conference
slate of opponents from the following Football Bowl Subdivision conferences - ACC,
Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC. In addition, the conference will also face opponents from
the Big East, Conference USA, Mountain West, Sun Belt and Independents--Army and
Navy.

"The MAC West is always a gauntlet and our crossover games include a Kent State team
that is coming off an 11-win season," Lembo says.  "North Texas has made a huge
investment in their football program and recently opened a state of the art stadium.
We have a large alumni base in the Washington, D.C., area and hopefully many will
make the short trip to Charlottesville to see us in action at Virginia."

The 2013 regular season will also once again feature an over-the-air syndication
package produced and distributed by ESPN Regional Television (ERT). These syndicated
games can also be seen on ESPN Game Plan, ESPN Plus and ESPN3.  An updated release
of the MAC 2013 football schedule will be released later this spring with kick times
and a full television schedule.

The regular season will conclude with the 16th Marathon MAC Football Championship
game on Friday, Dec. 6 at Ford Field in Detroit on ESPN2.  This will mark the tenth
Marathon MAC Football Championship game at Ford Field, home of the Detroit Lions,
Super Bowl XL, and the 2009 NCAA Men's Final Four.


Ball State
Aug.
29         Illinois State
Sep.
7          Army
14         at North Texas
21         *at Eastern Michigan
28         *Toledo
Oct.
5          at Virginia
12         *Kent State (HOMECOMING)
19         *at Western Michigan
26         *at Akron
Nov.
6          *Central Michigan, 8:00 pm ET (ESPN2)
13         #*at Northern Illinois, TBA (ESPN2/ESPNU)
29         #*Miami, TBA (ESPNU/ESPN3)