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Ball State vs Northern Illinois Timeline

Explore every documented meeting, final score and season in the recorded history between Ball State and Northern Illinois.

PROGRAM ONEBall State24 recorded wins
HEAD TO HEAD24–24–1WINS · LOSSES · TIES
PROGRAM TWONorthern Illinois24 recorded wins
49Recorded meetings
1968Earliest documented
2025Most recent season
1Tied games
THE RIVALRY THROUGH TIME

Head-to-head timeline

Meetings are listed oldest first. Scores and dates reflect the available historical records.

49 games
  1. 1968
    Ball State20 — 40Northern Illinois
    Sep 14, 1968Northern Illinois won
  2. 1969
    Ball State13 — 17Northern Illinois
    Oct 25, 1969Northern Illinois won
  3. 1970
    Ball State14 — 31Northern Illinois
    Oct 24, 1970Northern Illinois won
  4. 1971
    Ball State10 — 10Northern Illinois
    Oct 23, 1971Tie
  5. 1973
    Ball State17 — 45Northern Illinois
    Oct 20, 1973Northern Illinois won
  6. 1974
    Ball State31 — 21Northern Illinois
    Nov 9, 1974Ball State won
  7. 1975
    Ball State3 — 0Northern Illinois
    Oct 25, 1975Ball State won
  8. 1976
    Ball State33 — 7Northern Illinois
    Oct 30, 1976Ball State won
  9. 1977
    Ball State31 — 6Northern Illinois
    Oct 15, 1977Ball State won
  10. 1978
    Ball State31 — 13Northern Illinois
    Nov 18, 1978Ball State won
  11. 1979
    Ball State42 — 0Northern Illinois
    Nov 17, 1979Ball State won
  12. 1980
    Ball State18 — 17Northern Illinois
    Sep 13, 1980Ball State won
  13. 1981
    Ball State23 — 0Northern Illinois
    Oct 3, 1981Ball State won
  14. 1982
    Ball State14 — 7Northern Illinois
    Oct 2, 1982Ball State won
  15. 1983
    Ball State14 — 27Northern Illinois
    Oct 1, 1983Northern Illinois won
  16. 1984
    Ball State15 — 14Northern Illinois
    Sep 29, 1984Ball State won
  17. 1985
    Ball State29 — 0Northern Illinois
    Oct 5, 1985Ball State won
  18. 1986
    Ball State20 — 10Northern Illinois
    Aug 30, 1986Ball State won
  19. 1987
    Ball State42 — 17Northern Illinois
    Oct 31, 1987Ball State won
  20. 1988
    Ball State18 — 17Northern Illinois
    Oct 29, 1988Ball State won
  21. 1997
    Ball State21 — 14Northern Illinois
    Oct 25, 1997Ball State won
  22. 1998
    Ball State18 — 13Northern Illinois
    Oct 3, 1998Ball State won
  23. 1999
    Ball State17 — 37Northern Illinois
    Oct 9, 1999Northern Illinois won
  24. 2000
    Ball State14 — 43Northern Illinois
    Sep 30, 2000Northern Illinois won
  25. 2001
    Ball State29 — 33Northern Illinois
    Nov 17, 2001Northern Illinois wonHuskie Stadium
  26. 2002
    Ball State29 — 41Northern Illinois
    Oct 5, 2002Northern Illinois wonScheumann Stadium
  27. 2003
    Ball State23 — 48Northern Illinois
    Nov 1, 2003Northern Illinois wonHuskie Stadium
  28. 2004
    Ball State31 — 38Northern Illinois
    Oct 30, 2004Northern Illinois wonScheumann Stadium
  29. 2005
    Ball State31 — 17Northern Illinois
    Oct 29, 2005Ball State wonHuskie Stadium
  30. 2006
    Ball State28 — 40Northern Illinois
    Sep 30, 2006Northern Illinois wonScheumann Stadium
  31. 2007
    Ball State27 — 21Northern Illinois
    Nov 24, 2007Ball State wonHuskie Stadium
  32. 2008
    Ball State45 — 14Northern Illinois
    Nov 6, 2008Ball State wonScheumann Stadium
  33. 2009
    Ball State20 — 26Northern Illinois
    Nov 12, 2009Northern Illinois wonHuskie Stadium
  34. 2010
    Ball State21 — 59Northern Illinois
    Nov 20, 2010Northern Illinois wonScheumann Stadium
  35. 2011
    Ball State38 — 41Northern Illinois
    Nov 16, 2011Northern Illinois wonHuskie Stadium
  36. 2012
    Ball State23 — 35Northern Illinois
    Oct 6, 2012Northern Illinois wonScheumann Stadium
  37. 2013
    Ball State27 — 48Northern Illinois
    Nov 14, 2013Northern Illinois wonHuskie Stadium
  38. 2014
    Ball State21 — 35Northern Illinois
    Nov 6, 2014Northern Illinois wonScheumann Stadium
  39. 2015
    Ball State41 — 59Northern Illinois
    Oct 10, 2015Northern Illinois wonHuskie Stadium
  40. 2016
    Ball State24 — 31Northern Illinois
    Oct 1, 2016Northern Illinois wonScheumann Stadium
  41. 2017
    Ball State17 — 63Northern Illinois
    Nov 10, 2017Northern Illinois wonHuskie Stadium
  42. 2018
    Ball State16 — 24Northern Illinois
    Oct 6, 2018Northern Illinois wonScheumann Stadium
  43. 2019
    Ball State27 — 20Northern Illinois
    Oct 5, 2019Ball State wonHuskie Stadium
  44. 2020
    Ball State31 — 25Northern Illinois
    Nov 19, 2020Ball State wonScheumann Stadium
  45. 2021
    Ball State29 — 30Northern Illinois
    Nov 11, 2021Northern Illinois wonHuskie Stadium
  46. 2022
    Ball State44 — 38Northern Illinois
    Oct 1, 2022Ball State wonScheumann Stadium
  47. 2023
    Ball State20 — 17Northern Illinois
    Nov 8, 2023Ball State wonHuskie Stadium
  48. 2024
    Ball State25 — 23Northern Illinois
    Oct 26, 2024Ball State wonScheumann Stadium
  49. 2025
    Ball State7 — 21Northern Illinois
    Oct 25, 2025Northern Illinois wonHuskie Stadium
THE COMPLETE SCOREBOOK

All recorded results

The latest documented meeting appears first.

SeasonMatchupScoreOutcome
2025Ball State vs Northern Illinois7–21Northern Illinois won
2024Ball State vs Northern Illinois25–23Ball State won
2023Ball State vs Northern Illinois20–17Ball State won
2022Ball State vs Northern Illinois44–38Ball State won
2021Ball State vs Northern Illinois29–30Northern Illinois won
2020Ball State vs Northern Illinois31–25Ball State won
2019Ball State vs Northern Illinois27–20Ball State won
2018Ball State vs Northern Illinois16–24Northern Illinois won
2017Ball State vs Northern Illinois17–63Northern Illinois won
2016Ball State vs Northern Illinois24–31Northern Illinois won
2015Ball State vs Northern Illinois41–59Northern Illinois won
2014Ball State vs Northern Illinois21–35Northern Illinois won
2013Ball State vs Northern Illinois27–48Northern Illinois won
2012Ball State vs Northern Illinois23–35Northern Illinois won
2011Ball State vs Northern Illinois38–41Northern Illinois won
2010Ball State vs Northern Illinois21–59Northern Illinois won
2009Ball State vs Northern Illinois20–26Northern Illinois won
2008Ball State vs Northern Illinois45–14Ball State won
2007Ball State vs Northern Illinois27–21Ball State won
2006Ball State vs Northern Illinois28–40Northern Illinois won
2005Ball State vs Northern Illinois31–17Ball State won
2004Ball State vs Northern Illinois31–38Northern Illinois won
2003Ball State vs Northern Illinois23–48Northern Illinois won
2002Ball State vs Northern Illinois29–41Northern Illinois won
2001Ball State vs Northern Illinois29–33Northern Illinois won
2000Ball State vs Northern Illinois14–43Northern Illinois won
1999Ball State vs Northern Illinois17–37Northern Illinois won
1998Ball State vs Northern Illinois18–13Ball State won
1997Ball State vs Northern Illinois21–14Ball State won
1988Ball State vs Northern Illinois18–17Ball State won
1987Ball State vs Northern Illinois42–17Ball State won
1986Ball State vs Northern Illinois20–10Ball State won
1985Ball State vs Northern Illinois29–0Ball State won
1984Ball State vs Northern Illinois15–14Ball State won
1983Ball State vs Northern Illinois14–27Northern Illinois won
1982Ball State vs Northern Illinois14–7Ball State won
1981Ball State vs Northern Illinois23–0Ball State won
1980Ball State vs Northern Illinois18–17Ball State won
1979Ball State vs Northern Illinois42–0Ball State won
1978Ball State vs Northern Illinois31–13Ball State won
1977Ball State vs Northern Illinois31–6Ball State won
1976Ball State vs Northern Illinois33–7Ball State won
1975Ball State vs Northern Illinois3–0Ball State won
1974Ball State vs Northern Illinois31–21Ball State won
1973Ball State vs Northern Illinois17–45Northern Illinois won
1971Ball State vs Northern Illinois10–10Tie
1970Ball State vs Northern Illinois14–31Northern Illinois won
1969Ball State vs Northern Illinois13–17Northern Illinois won
1968Ball State vs Northern Illinois20–40Northern Illinois won
OUR DATA STANDARD

Sources and historical coverage

These results are compiled from season-by-season records imported from CollegeFootballData. Only games with both final scores are counted. Older seasons and some lower-division records may be incomplete; the earliest documented year is not necessarily the first meeting ever played.

Page updated November 7, 2026 · Historical records are subject to correction.